The Raven
by Rivendell101
Summary: How do you catch a murderer? Do you? Seven girls are already dead and Magnolia's Police Force is no closer to finding out who did it then they were when it started. The stakes are high and in the end, no one will be the winner./ Lucy glared at Igneel, "Why are you doing this?" He glanced at her, "You're playing with a madman, Lucy. Sooner or later your luck has to run out." AU NaLu
1. Murder on 31st Street

**The Raven**

**Chapter One: Murder on 31****st**** Street**

Lucy felt like she was being watched. It was an unmistakable feeling. It was as if her subconscious was warning her of something she couldn't see or hear.

Naturally, this might be due to the fact that she was currently walking alone in the middle of the night. In all reality she should have just stayed home. She should not be running around in the dark well past midnight with nothing but her cell phone and a can of pepper spray to protect her from who knows what might be lurking around Magnolia.

A low growl pulled her out of the thoughts swimming through her mind. She smiled slightly at the large white dog looking at her with worry. She wasn't really alone of course. Plue was with her and the large, white German Shepherd was normally enough to scare off most people who got too close even though Plue himself was hardly threatening. In reality he was just a huge sweetheart that was afraid of her best friend Natsu's pet cat Happy (this was a rather funny thing as Plue could easily eat the cat if he really wanted to).

Lucy shook her head slightly and pushed the odd feeling to the back of her mind, smiling brightly at Plue, "Come on, bud. Let's get home," Lucy gave Plue's leash a slight tug to emphasize her words. Plue merely wagged his tail in response; jumping up and down before twirling around. Lucy couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous nature of her dog. He was more of a family member than anything.

And then he barked, loudly.

Lucy hissed at the dog, "Plue! Are you trying to get both of us in trouble?" Oh the trouble she would be in if her father woke up to find her not there. She still had bruises from the last time she had angered him the week before.

A sudden gust of wind blew by making Lucy shiver. She really should have worn warmer clothing than what she was. Although, to be fair, she didn't exactly plan to take the dog for a walk at one in the morning, that being the reason she was only wearing shorts and an old sweatshirt of Natsu's that she had kidnapped some time ago. Hell, she wasn't even wearing shoes! How in God's name did she forget to put on shoes?

Lucy pulled Natsu's sweatshirt closer against her as she continued to walk. There was nearly another half hour before she would be home again and she wished she hadn't come this far. She had never like walking around in the dark… she had never really liked the dark to begin with. Lucy pulled out her phone, hissing slightly as the screen lit up brightly, momentarily blinding her. It was one-thirty. That being said she only had three and a half hours before her father woke up. And five hours before she had to leave for school.

Lucy sighed as she shoved her phone back into the pocket of Natsu's sweatshirt. She really didn't need to be worrying about school at a time like this. She didn't need to be worrying about anything. Not about what her father would do if he woke up and she was gone again. Not about how her friends were starting to notice the strange bruises that littered her arms and legs. And especially not about the nagging feeling that she should run as far away from where she was at that moment as she could. In was only paranoia. Or maybe she was a delusional idiot who needed to stop watching scary movies with her friends.

Yeah, it was probably the second option.

Not that she had any real reason to be afraid. She was seventeen not seven. She had a large, threatening looking dog walking beside her, pepper spray in her pocket, and if someone shady did start to follow her around out of nowhere she could easily call Natsu and he would beat the shit out of them. Oh, the wonders of your best friend being a six foot tall male who fought with people because he enjoyed it. Plus Natsu's father is a cop. She felt sorry for whoever was stupid enough to attack her in the dark. Then again, she was the idiot that was walking around in the dark to begin with.

Lucy shook her head once more as she moved to turn the corner onto the next street. She came to an abrupt halt when Plue stopped moving. She raised an eyebrow at the dog; he was currently staring straight ahead with his eyes fixed on something she couldn't see. She dismissed his behavior, chalking it up to be a squirrel or stray cat. "Come on Plue," she managed to move around him and take a single step forward before he suddenly started to snarl. The noise sounded foreign coming out of the back of his throat, his hackles were raised and he looked as if he was going to lunge forward at any moment.

She made a move to speak to the agitated dog once again when a snapping sound came from her right. She spun in the direction of the noise just in time to see a large raven land on the ground not even three feet away from her. Lucy narrowed her eyes in confusion as she knelt onto the ground, staring at the Raven.

The raven was… odd looking, to say the least. Its feathers were glossy and rather clean looking, as if it was someone's pet. It had a red ribbon tied around its left leg and Lucy could see a small note tied there with it. But the most peculiar thing had to be the bird's eyes. The left eye was black, the normal color of a raven's eyes. The other though… Lucy couldn't seem to tear her gaze away from the ice blue right eye of the bird. When the bird swiveled slightly and stared her right in the eye with its blue one she gasped as a cold shiver made its way down her spine. The eye was pale, the color that of a blind mans. The raven wasn't blind though. That much was clear in the way that it followed all of Lucy's movements with a precision like no other.

The bird hopped forward once and in a flurry Lucy was standing upright, tripping slightly in an attempt to move away from the bird. She was getting a strange vibe from the bird and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

Lucy wasn't sure why the bird was scaring her so much, it's not like she had ever had any bad experiences with birds before. It was probably just because it was dark out and Plue was acting like a fool, sitting there and growling as if Gray were there.

She glanced at the dog out of the corner of her eye. He was still snarling, although now the action was aimed at the black bird staring at them. "Come on Plue," she turned and started walking the way she had moments ago. Plue's snarl trailed off into a light whine as he stepped away from the bird and looked at her. He started to follow after her a moment later, his claws making a soft scrapping noise on the ground, reminding her of her own footwear. Or, rather, lack there of. She needed to get home, sooner rather than later.

Lucy turned the corner onto 31st Street, a dead end road that was usually a peaceful place. Lucy had started going down the street at one end and would have to walk to the other end before she could turn again. Meaning she had to walk the full length of the street. With a grimace Lucy looked at her phone once again. One forty seven. She had maybe a ten minute walk left.

The wind picked up once again and Lucy wished she had just stayed home. She was freezing and the creepy feeling was back. Only now it was worse.

CAW!

Lucy nearly shrieked at the loud noise the bird made nearly a foot away from her head. Twisting around Lucy watched as a black shadow landed on a fence across the street from her. She was about to write the action off as nothing when the bird's head turned and the light reflected off of its eyes.

One was an icy blue.

The bird was following after her.

That was the first thing that ran through her head. It was a preposterous idea. It was just a bird. And, while birds are quite intelligent, they don't just follow people around unless said person was food of some sort. Which, obviously, she did not have, she was not one of those strange people who carried around food wherever they went. No need to end up attacked by a bear. Not that there were bears walking around Magnolia, well, not that she knew of anyway.

Lucy shook off the bird's odd behavior. It was nothing. She was just paranoid. That was the only thing running through her mind when the bird flew down from its perch, swooped past her head while crying out, and landed in the street directly in front of her.

It was trying to block her path.

She tightened her hold on Plue, moving to skirt around the raven, when it shot into the air, claws outstretched and aiming for her face. Lucy jerked backwards in a hurry, falling to the ground as the bird's talons slice into the right side of her neck. Lucy slapped a hand over the cut, "Fucking bird!" Lucy hissed out the words as she swatted the raven away from her. "What the hell do you want from me?" Lucy gritted her teeth together to keep herself from crying out. The claws were sharper than she had thought they would be. Damn.

The bird shot towards her a second time, but Plue lunged forward and caught the bird in his jaws before it even got close to her. Plue's hold on the bird only lasted for a moment though, as the bird squawked to show it was hurting before it twisted around and raked its claws across Plue's muzzle. The white dog let out a yelp of pain and nearly dropped the bird. Plue's jaws clamped down quickly before the bird could fly away and Plue viciously shook his head, thrashing the bird. Lucy sprung into action then, "Plue! Stop it!" Lucy's cry came moments too late, because when Plue dropped the bird it was already dead.

"Plue… come here," The dog lowered his head, thinking he was in trouble, but as he reached Lucy she merely crouched down and rapped her arms around him. "Thanks buddy," she murmured against the side of the dog's neck. Plue replied with a small bark and jumped to his feet. Lucy laughed at the dog once more, "Yeah, let's get home buddy."

Lucy cast one last glance at the raven lying in the street. Its blue eye was still looking at her and she had to fight back the urge to run away as fast as she could. "Damn bird," Lucy tore her gaze away from the bird before she and Plue finished the short walk home.

Ten minutes later, at one fifty eight, Lucy was standing outside of the front door trying to be as quiet as possible. It would suck if she had gone threw all off that trouble only to wake up her father as soon a she got home.

But, of course, nothing ever goes as planned.

Lucy had just shut the door behind her, not making a sound, though as soon as she turned around a light snapped on overhead, illuminating the tall figure of her father standing at the bottom of the stairs.

He was not happy. Not at all.

In fact, he looked livid.

"And where," his eyes flashed dangerously, "Exactly do you think you've been?"

Although his tone was polite enough she could detect the slight hiss hidden in his voice. "Out," her answer was clipped and she inwardly winced at the cold tone she had used. It would do her no favors later. Nor would it do her favors now.

His eyes narrowed and within the next few seconds he was standing in front of her, his hand whipping across her face. She didn't make a sound, knowing it would only make things worse. Something she didn't want to happen. The next think she knew an immense pain was spreading across her back, he had slammed her against the door. "Where," his fingers were digging into her arms, "were," the door knob was jamming into her ribs, "You?" She knew she needed to respond, but the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. "Out with the Dragneel boy?" he probed further.

Her head snapped up at that. He thought she was out with Natsu? Why? He seemed to think her action proved his statement. To be fair though, how she reacted paired with her wearing something of his probably made it seem that way. Not that it really mattered. He would react just as violently if he knew the truth.

Another blow was sent to her jaw paired with the word 'slut'. This time it was a closed fist instead of an open palm. And she wasn't sure which was worse. The pulsing ache that would stay after the compact blow or the sharp stinging sensation of a slap

She would definitely have a bruise tomorrow. And that usually meant that Natsu would be asking questions. Inwardly grimacing Lucy realized that she wouldn't be able to avoid his questions forever. He would find out eventually and then there would be problems. Besides, she only had roughly a year left until she could more out. She could last that long.

Probably.

Lucy wasn't sure how long she stood there; taking every blow he threw her way. In the end he settled on attacking her stomach and ribs. The pain would stay for days and she would feel it every time she breathed. That's what he did. Fast strikes that did maximum damage, not that she couldn't deal with this.

Lucy let out a smile. This was nothing compared to some things other people go through. She could handle this. She could handle anything he threw at her. There was nothing he could do that she wouldn't take.

Several more blows rained down over her and then he was gone. Just like a ghost that was never really there. And maybe he never was. Lucy pushed herself to her feet, the dull aching that spread through her body was proof enough that he was, in fact, there. She coughed experimentally into her hand, checking to see if any blood came out. That would be just perfect. Luckily there was no red spatter that stained her hand. That would be a challenge to explain to everyone else.

**~The Raven~**

Lucy knocked on the closed door once again, wishing it wasn't six in the morning and hoping someone would open it this time. And someone did.

Lucy let out a smile as a small blue haired girl threw her arms around her middle despite the pain it caused her ribs. Lucy chuckled slightly, hugging the girl back, "Good morning Wendy,"

"Morning, Lucy!" The smaller girl gave Lucy one more squeeze before she backed up, smiling brightly at the blonde. Wendy grabbed Lucy's hand before dragging her into the house. "Are you here to help me wake up Natsu?" Wendy asked the question teasingly. It would take an army to wake up her brother. Well, and army or Lucy.

Lucy tried unsuccessfully to fight down a smile. "He isn't awake yet?" At the shake of Wendy's head Lucy continued. "I suppose I could help you wake up the kraken." Wendy giggled as she pulled Lucy towards the stairs. As they passed the kitchen Lucy turned to great Igneel, as she did every morning, and was surprised to find him missing. "No Igneel this morning?" Lucy asked Wendy, raising a brow at the little girl.

Wendy shook her head. "He left really early this morning. Work call." Lucy nodded in understanding. Igneel was one of Magnolia's detectives. It was normal for him to disappear at random times of the day. He was almost always on call. Normally the only types of crime Magnolia had were the everyday bar fights down town and the occasional drug bust outside of town. "He left around two this morning," Wendy added as an after thought.

Lucy glanced at Wendy, "Bar fight?" Lucy questioned the girl, asking what she thought. Her immediate thoughts were on Fairy Tail, the bar and grill that she worked at after school and on weekends. The bar was famous for its many fights. No one every really got hurt though. And frankly, most of the fights happened when the occupants were sober rather than drunk.

Wendy nodded in reply, smiling brightly, "Bar fight."

Lucy laughed again, pushing the door to Natsu's room open, "Come on. Let's go wake up your animal of a brother," Wendy nodded in agreement and walked in beside Lucy. Both simply stared at the blob on the bed in front of them, "Wendy, go finish getting ready, okay? I'll deal with… this," Lucy gestured with her head to Natsu's bed. "And then I'll make breakfast. God knows Natsu can't cook to save his life or yours." The little girl laughed as she disappeared from the room, leaving Lucy to deal with the monster in front of her.

Lucy contemplated for a moment how she should wake up Natsu. She really didn't want to cause herself anymore pain than she was already in. Lucy bit her cheek before she decided to damn her pain, bothering Natsu was too much fun. And with that thought in mind Lucy ran towards the bed and jumped on Natsu.

Natsu didn't even move. How anticlimactic.

"Come on Natsu!" Lucy shoved the boy roughly. Not a thing. Lucy shuffled so that her knees were on either side of him and she was kneeling over him. She pushed him again, "Natsu, wake up! We have school," That was a stupid thing to say. He really didn't care.

This time he cracked an eye open at her. "So? You go to school. I'll stay here." She rolled her eyes before smacking him lightly on the side of his head. She crawled off of him and made her way to the door.

"Hurry up and get ready. I'm making breakfast," He let out a groan as she stood in the doorway, not wanting to move. Then again the mention of breakfast was a very tempting thing to the teenage boy. Lucy smiled as she saw him heave himself out of bed.

Less than ten minutes later Lucy had started to make eggs and toast. Something easy that Both Wendy and Natsu liked. She hummed along to Christina Perri's 'A thousand Years' playing on the radio playing next to her, why the Dragneels had a radio in their kitchen she would never know. Suddenly two strong arms were on either side of her body, Natsu's hands propping him up against the counter so he could look down at what she was doing.

She twisted around to face the taller boy, her being only five foot four, a large smirk plastered onto her face. "You're drooling," she tapped his right cheek with her finger, expecting him to make some sort of joke back as he normally did.

Natsu, however, was staring at her neck his eyes narrowed in confusion and… anger? Was there a bruise she had missed? She didn't remember her father grabbing her neck at all. Then again, she didn't remember half of what happened.

Natsu surprised her when he reached out and brushed his finger tips across the right side of her neck, causing her to remember what was there. Natsu brushed her hair away from her neck, his fingers not leaving the three scratches there. "What the fuck happened, Lucy?" His eyes didn't waver from the spot and his brow was pinched together, like it always was when he noticed something like this.

Lucy thanked whatever Gods were up there that it was the scratches that caught his attention and not a bruise. This way she wouldn't have to lie to him, something she hated to do. It didn't help that he seemed to be able to see right through her lies. "I took Plue for a walk late last night… or rather this morning," Natsu gave her a quizzical look, confused as to why she would walk her dog that late. Not that he had any reason to question her. He had a blue cat that he called 'Happy'. "A raven started to follow us around and, well, I guess we got too close or something." Natsu's thumb traveled across one of the scratches before he finally pulled away.

"Damn," Natsu murmured, half to himself, "It got you good," His eyes snapped up to meet hers, "When did you say you took Plue out for a walk?"

Lucy turned around again, finishing up the eggs, "I didn't." She pushed the eggs onto two plates; maybe if she stalled him with food he wouldn't ask when she was gone. She really didn't need another lecture about going out after dark.

Natsu, being smarter than he looked, caught what she was doing, "Lucy…" She skirted around him quickly, placing the plates onto the table a few feet away. She made to leave the room when Natsu blocked her path. "Lucy, when did leave last night?" Natsu was using his 'no bullshit' tone on her. Actually, she was probably the only one who got that tone; in fact, he was the one who normally needed to be kept in line, not her.

After a moment she caved, "Around one. We got back sometime after two, went up 31st." Natsu sucked in a breath. "But, as you can see, nothing bad happened."

She turned around and caught the dangerous look in Natsu's eyes. It wasn't directed at her of course and even if it was she didn't have any reason to be afraid. Natsu was the person least likely to hurt her. She knew that. He took a step forward, "Something could have happened," he deadpanned. He swallowed; "You could've gotten hurt," his eyes skated across her face.

"But nothing did. Plus I had Plue with me," he snorted in response.

"Plue is afraid of Happy." He shot back at her, trying to prove a point.

"You're afraid of Gray."

Natsu's eyes snapped back over to her, "You take that back!" He all but screamed the words at her before he lunged forward and caught her around the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. Lucy couldn't help but laugh at his ridiculous way of fighting back.

"Natsu," she managed to say through her laughter, "Put me down!" She was wearing a skirt; she did not need the rest of the town to see her underwear. She heard a third voice laugh from the doorway of the kitchen, "Wendy! Help me!" She called to the younger girl, who only giggled in response. Natsu cackled as he spun her around, being careful not to slip on the wood flooring and send them both tumbling to the ground.

"Not until you take back what you said!" Natsu cried out as moved to leave the kitchen. The last thing Lucy saw of Wendy was her blue hair moving back and forth as she shook her head at her older brother. Said older brother turned around so that he was walking backwards. "Hey Wendy, you know it's not true. No way in hell am I afraid of the stripper!" Lucy let out a squeak as Natsu almost backed into a wall.

"Natsu, watch where you're walking, dammit!" Lucy hissed the words at him before smacking his shoulder, not that it caused him any pain what so ever.

"No! Take it back!" The stubborn ass responded, pulling her closer against him.

She gave him an incredulous look, not believing he was that immovable, "What are you, five?"

**~The Raven~**

Detective Igneel Dragneel pushed open the front door to his house with a confused look across his face, he could hear shouting coming from inside and underneath that… laughter?

He stepped into the house only to be greeted by the sight of his three favorite kids, his own two children, Wendy and Natsu, and Lucy, Natsu's best friend who is also Wendy's babysitter. One might question why you would need a babysitter when you have the older sibling. Igneel's answer is Natsu. He needed a babysitter more than eleven year old Wendy did.

That statement was proven by the current situation. Natsu was walking around with Lucy thrown over his shoulder shouting something about 'the stripper', translation 'Gray', while Wendy was laughing about her brother's behavior.

"Oh thank God! Officer Dragneel, maybe you can save me from this awful creature," Igneel merely laughed at the face Natsu pulled at Lucy's statement.

"Jesus Lucy. You act like I'm trying to rape you or something." Natsu shook his head while making a 'tsk' sound, his salmon colored hair falling over his eyes slightly, before he finally set Lucy down onto the ground. Although, Igneel thought with an inward smirk, he didn't retract his hands. Nor did it look like he wanted to.

"So Igneel," Lucy started, "I heard you got called in this morning. Fight at Fairy Tail again?" That was the obvious answer, Fairy Tail. But of course, things are never that simple. Not in this life or the next.

Igneel narrowed his eyes. He really shouldn't be talking about his new case, but these kids were his family and the case itself hit rather close to home, in more ways than one. And so he told them. "No, it was actually a lot worse." Worse wasn't saying much.

He could feel their eyes on him and looked up. None of them had moved. Wendy was still in the doorway of the kitchen, her head cocked to the right as she waited for him to continue. Natsu and Lucy where the same, Natsu still had his arms coiled around her waist and Lucy's hands were resting on the upper part of his arm, just above the elbow. Both looked confused, although, Igneel mused, the look wasn't new on Natsu.

Igneel looked away from the three kids while thinking of the scene. There had been so much blood. And the body had been ripped to pieces. It was hard to tell anything about the body. It had been a sickening sight.

Igneel shook his head before looking at them again, "At two this morning, a twenty one year old female college graduate was murdered."

He saw Lucy swallow thickly, "Where?"

Igneel looked her in the eyes, "31st Street."

**~The Raven~**

**Who else thought it was the raven that was murdered? Huh? No one? Okay… **

**Please take the time to read and review. This encourages me to write faster. **

**Disclaimer- I only own the plot.**

**Feeling sick,**

**~Rivendell**


	2. The Animal

**The Raven**

**Chapter Two: ****The Animal**

Lucy sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, the resulting noise sounding slightly like the irritated hiss of an animal. In the next moment she felt Natsu's body stiffen against her, the muscles in his arms tensing under her fingers as he swallowed.

Natsu dipped his head down, "Lucy," He breathed her name lowly in her ear, although she was fairly certain that both Igneel and Wendy could hear as well, "Didn't you say you were on thirty first last night?" From the corner of her eye Lucy saw Igneel's head snap in their direction, his eyes wide with a cross between fear and confusion.

She didn't realize she had tightened her grip on Natsu's arms until he finished speaking. "I did," Her voice broke as she spoke, "I was on thirty first some time between one forty five and two this morning." Natsu's arms noticeably tightened around her waist, unknowingly pressing against a bruise from that morning. Not that she really noticed. She was too numb from what Igneel had just said.

"You were there?" Igneel questioned her, taking a step closer to the two teenagers in front of him.

Lucy turned her head towards the red haired man, "What's your definition of 'there'?" She ran a shaking hand through her hair, "I walked down the length of the street. I didn't see anything weird. I didn't hear anything," She trailed off. Thing's were just going from bad to worse now.

Nobody said anything else for what seemed like years.

Igneel let out a long sigh. "You three get to school. We'll figure this out later." He walked up the stairs without giving any of them a second glance.

Lucy waited for his back to disappear from sight before she disentangled herself from Natsu's hold, "Wendy," The little girl looked at her with wide eyes, "Go get your bag."

Wendy nodded before running up the stairs, ready to leave the house as soon as possible, thus, leaving her with Natsu.

"Lucy," Natsu started, hesitation clear in his voice, "Are you… okay?" Her head snapped up. He was worried about her? Why? Her confusion must have reflected on her face because after a moment he elaborated. "I mean… with everything that's happened. Are you okay?"

Lucy looked over at him. "Should I be?" Natsu opened his mouth to respond, but she shushed him, "That was rhetorical," She caught a glance at his eyes, not liking the thing she saw there in the slightest. She really had been joking when she said he was afraid of Gray. This… this was a different breed of trepidation; this was not just an icy finger touching your heart. This was the type of _raw fear_ that spread through men until it pierced their hearts like a jagged knife, turning weaker men into sniveling, wounded animals.

Luckily, Natsu was not a weaker man.

His eyes betrayed his mind. He was thinking that he could have lost her. She didn't waste anymore time before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him once again, burying her face against his chest. "I'm okay Natsu," She whispered, "Nothing's going to happen to me."

Her words seemed to have the desired effect. In the next moment his arms were curled around her like a vice, impossible to break, but gentle enough not to harm her in any way.

The two stood there, just taking comfort in the fact that the other was _there_, after a heartbeat Natsu lowered his head, placing it on top of hers, "Hey, Lucy?" He whispered after a moment of blissful silence. She merely 'hummed' in response, too content to take part in breaking the silence. "There's a marathon of Supernatural on tonight," She smiled against his chest, knowing what he was going to say and knowing that he knew that she knew what he was going to say, "You up for it?"

She laughed before pulling away from him, looking up into his dark eyes, "Of course."

**~The Raven~**

"You did what!?" Erza's screech of pure rage boomed across the school yard, making everyone either freeze up or run away in fear.

Lucy let out a nervous laugh, she had just finished explaining what had happened last night and this morning, omitting a few choice facts, such as what had happened with her father, because that would definitely be the best thing to tell the hysterical girl standing in front of her right now, "I'm going to assume that was a rhetorical question." Erza sent her a glare that could have possibly taken ten years off of her life before tackling her in a hug like a professional rugby player, sending both girls tumbling towards the ground in a heap of limps and scarlet colored hair.

Lucy just barely managed to hold back a cry of pain as Erza crushed her ribs on impact. She prayed to what ever God was up there that, if they weren't already, she would get through the day without broken ribs. Lucy hissed lightly, being slammed into the ground and then being pressed between said object and her female best friend did not do her bruised body any favors.

After a moment Erza suddenly jumped back up, pulling Lucy up off of the ground with her, only to slam the girl against her chest in a suffocating hug a moment later. "You are never allowed to do that again. Do you understand me?" Lucy didn't even bother trying to respond. Erza wasn't looking for an answer and she couldn't pull enough oxygen to her lungs to give her one. "Also, I'm walking you home tonight."

Lucy rolled her eyes, finally managing to suck in a breath. Why did her friends have to be so overdramatic? Besides, Lucy was pretty sure she would be safe walking with just Natsu. "I have to work tonight, Erza."

"So?"

This was ridiculous, her friends were ridiculous, "So? You don't need to walk me to work. I'm getting a ride from Laxus," You remember him… right Erza? You know… the big, scary blond guy with the scar on his face that could quite possibly knock a guy out with one well placed hit? Yeah, that Laxus. Lucy was fairly certain she would be safe in the company of Laxus.

"What if Laxus was the one who killed that girl?"

What the fuck? Why on earth would _that_ be the first thing you question? Lucy blinked, "If Laxus really wanted to kill me I'm sure he would have done it by now."

Erza mulled over the idea for a moment before finally nodding in agreement. Not that Lucy could see her as she was still being held captive in the monstrous embrace that was Erza's, "I'll walk you home from work instead."

Mother Fu-! What is wrong with this girl? "Natsu's giving me a ride home."

"I'll wait there while you work than!" Her grip tightened… if that was at all physically possible.

"Erza…" This girl would never quit.

"Yes?"

"Stop it."

A long sigh, "Okay…" The scarlet haired girl dropped the blonde in her embrace and she could breathe again!

"Lucy?"

Lucy raised a brow at the taller girl, curious as to what she was going to say next. "Yes Erza?"

"Could I spend the night at your house?"

Lucy gaped at the taller girl in disbelief for a moment before breaking off into loud peals of laughter at everything that had just happened, Natsu and their blue haired friend Jellal following close behind her.

After a moment Natsu recovered somewhat, "Sorry Erza. She's spending the night with me." He smirked after saying it, thinking he had won a one-sided battle against Erza, something he had been trying to do for the past three years.

Erza, of course, didn't take it that way. No, she took it the way some sort of disgusting human would say it.

"You're what!?" Before Natsu could reply Erza had already slammed him against the ground shouting something about Natsu 'being a pervert' and how she was going to 'rip his balls off'.

While the banshee was screaming at Natsu, Lucy walked over to Jellal. "Are you going to Fairy Tail tonight Jellal?"

The blue haired boy smirked, the tattoo under his right eye crinkling up as he did so. "Nah, I think I'll spend the night keeping Erza out of your hair," his smirk fell away into a smile.

Lucy laughed, "Thanks Jellal." She moved to say something else, but a flash of black caught her eyes. Lucy turned her head in the direction on the flash, her eyes landing on a large black Raven sitting on a fence just across the road from the school. Lucy was about to write it off as nothing when the bird turned its head towards her.

A flash of blue light followed.

She whipped back around, ignoring the concerned glance she got from Jellal. There was no way that could be the same fucking bird. She had watched Plue _kill_ the bird. And in real life, thing's don't just come back from the dead.

Lucy sighed and squeezed her eyes shut.

She needed sleep.

Or maybe she just needed to stop taking blows to the head.

That would probably help too.

"You bastard! Don't you dare try and get in her pants!"

Then again, maybe she just needed quieter friends.

**~The Raven~**

"Raven… raven… raven… rav- there we go!" Lucy clicked on the link that looked the most promising. She wanted to find out if that bird's behavior was normal or not. She didn't know why, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it _wasn't_ normal.

Then again, nothing in her life had ever been _normal_.

A bird coming back from the dead was definitely not normal.

She had been sitting there for maybe ten minutes, just browsing over the page and writing down things that stood out, when Natsu showed up.

"What are you looking at Lucy?" He didn't wait for her to answer; instead he leaned over her, his chest pressed up against her back and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Ravens," He didn't question her, only nodded in response. He was use to her strange behavior and he seemed to understand why she needed to look into this subject. When he spoke next he sounded completely serious.

"What did you find out?"

She let out a puff of air as Natsu pulled up a chair, situating himself behind her and pulling her against his chest. His arms locked around her middle and his head propped up on her shoulder, "Not anything interesting in the slightest." He squeezed her lightly, silently encouraging her to go on.

"Ravens, one of the seven large-bodied members of Genus Corvus, there are several types of ravens including the common raven, Australian raven, and Chihuahuan raven."

"Did you just say the-?"

She cut him off, "-Yes, I did- moving on. They are on average twenty five inches long and two and a half pounds. They can live up to twenty one years. Oh, and they mate for life," Lucy slammed her head down on the computer desk in front of her. "There is absolutely nothing that's going to explain anything to me."

Natsu ran his hand up and down her side in a soothing motion, "Come on, we need to look a little harder than that."

Lucy lifted her head and gave him a look, "We?"

Natsu gave her a bright smile, his strangely elongated canine teeth flashing, "Yes 'we'. If something is bothering you I'm going to do whatever is in my power to help you figure it out."

Her gaze softened and she smiled back at him, "Thanks Natsu."

"No problem," He squeezed her once again, "So, what else?"

"They are extremely intelligent, well smarter than you anyway," Natsu gave her a dirty look, but she could see his lips twitch upward at the corners. "They are also very playful creatures," she stared at the words on the screen for a moment, "Yeah tell that to my neck."

Natsu's smile dropped, "Ravens have long been considered to be birds of ill omen and death. In Sweden, ravens are known as the ghosts of murdered people, and in Germany as the souls of the damned."

"That's lovely," Lucy cut in. "Why the fuck did it attack me though?" She looked at Natsu. He shook his head, causing his salmon colored hair to sway back and forth, "I mean that doesn't happen unless we're in some remake of 'The Birds' or something."

Natsu nodded in agreement, "We'll figure this out Lucy. I promise you that."

**~The Raven~**

"Lucy!" her head jerked up at the sound of her name being called out, "A couple of guys just sat down at table three." Her eyes zeroed in on the face that the voice belonged to. A smile made its way to her face as she saw a tall blond man with a scar running across his face. At six foot five Laxus Dreyar easily towered over her. A small smirk was stretched across his usually stoic face, something that only seemed to happen around a selective few people, which, for some reason, included her. "Think you can handle it?"

She laughed loudly at the older teen, "Yeah, yeah, of course I can. Go back to the bar old man." He raised a brow at the jab, but his smile didn't drop. "No, seriously. Go back to the bar before Bixlow starts letting Cana mix the drinks. If that happens all Hell will break loose in here."

Laxus laughed, nodded, and turned to walk away. He made it two feet before stopping once more. "Lucy," he paused for a moment, not turning around to look at her, "Natsu is coming to pick you up tonight, right?"

Lucy's eyebrows knitted together. Laxus never called Natsu by his name unless thing's were serious. "Yeah," She pondered the question for a moment, "After what happed last night I'm surprised he even let me come here tonight." Laxus seemed to take that as an acceptable answer, murmuring a 'good' before he walked back to his position at the bar.

Lucy shook her head before walking over to her newly assigned table.

She was not pleased in the slightest by what she saw.

Fucking Saber tooth bastards.

She didn't even bother asking what they wanted, "What are a bunch of Sabers doing here?" She spoke the words loudly enough that it caught the attention of several occupants of the bar, most being people who understood the conflict. She noticed Elfman crack his knuckles from his seat in the back, his eyes asking if she needed his help. Lucy caught his gaze and shook her head slightly, telling him to stay back. "Besides, we don't serve to minors."

She could handle this scum.

One of the blonds smiled, "What's a pretty girl like you doing with a bunch of weak ass fairies?" The other two blonds behind him laughed, Orga and Rufus, while the dark haired one stayed silent.

So Rogue was there too. Things just kept getting better and better.

Lucy scoffed at the boy who had spoken, Sting. "Weak? As I seem to recall Natsu kicked both your ass and Rogue's. Alone," She remembered that fight well. "He didn't even need Gajeel to help beat up a pathetic little bitch like you, Sting."

Sting's eyes glinted with anger, something she saw often enough, before they sparked with something like recognition and a sick smirk made its way across his face, "I remember you Blondie," He flicked his tongue across his lips, his smirk widening considerably, "You're Salamander's girl." It wasn't a question, she knew that quite well. Although one thing in his assumption irked her, she never really understood why everyone called Natsu 'Salamander'. They always associated him with fire, but a salamander was a primarily aquatic amphibian. "Interesting, I wonder how he would react if something," He paused, "Bad happened to you." She had no idea what he neither meant by 'bad' nor did she want to know.

Lucy narrowed her eyes coldly, "So what if I am?" She hissed at him, pure venom dripping off of every word she directed at him, "You can't do anything about it," She laughed lightly, her scowl still in place. "If you try anything Laxus will kill you, Gajeel will kill you and that's only if Natsu doesn't kill you first." She shot the man in front of her a look that should have sent him six feet under.

Sting smiled as he stood up, "But, that's only if they find out." He took a step forward and caught her around the waist, similar to the hold that Natsu had her in that morning, although this was something she wanted to break out of. And how the hell would they not find out? Laxus was in the vicinity and word of Saber tooth being in Fairy Tail would spread like wild fire. By the end of the night _everyone_ would know. And she meant everyone.

Lucy was pissed now. This day had just been getting worse and worse.

What the Hell could possibly happen next?

And by all means, she was not challenging fate there.

Not at all…

She attempted to shove herself away from the blond asshole in front of her, but he didn't budge, "Get," She snarled, glaring into his eyes, "The fuck off of me."

Sting smirked, "Damn, you've got quite the dirty mouth," He leaned in closer to her, one hand trailing up her side until he grasped her breast roughly, "I wonder what else you can do with it."

Before he could react Lucy pulled back her arms and ripped her nails across his face. He released her in an instant, his hand slapping against his bleeding check. She smiled in satisfaction, seeing the four angry red lines running parallel across the left side of his face.

"You bitch," he turned back to face her and she saw his hand raise, but she didn't stop it.

Stopping it only ever made things worse…

The hand collided with her jaw so hard that her head snapped around at breakneck speed.

But she didn't stumble.

She would _never_ stumble away from weak assholes like this.

The bar was silent and by the time she turned her head back around everything was turned upside down.

Elfman had Orga pulled into a vicious headlock, and, seeing the position that the silver haired man held the blond in, she could only assume he had gotten up to help Sting after she had hit him.

Freed and Bixlow had Rufus pushed up against the table he had been sitting at, both men's eyes blazing with fury.

Rogue was gone. She had no idea when or why he had left.

And Sting?

Laxus had one hand wrapped around the smaller blonde's throat and was holding him several inches above the ground. "I turn around for one minute and the next thing I know you're hitting her," Laxus seethed, letting out a bitter laugh. "Who do you think you are Saber tooth?" He brought Sting's face several inches closer to his own, "You come into _our_ bar." Laxus was shaking in rage, "Fuck around with a member of _our_ family." She had never once seen Laxus with this much anger in his eyes before, "You fucking _hit_ a member of _our_ family," Laxus's hand tightened around Sting's throat. "And you think you're just going to get away with that?" And with that being said Laxus slammed Sting into one of the tables nearby, breaking it in half and leaving Sting's body on the floor. Bixlow moved forward, ready to fuck up Sting as well, but Laxus held up a hand. "Leave him," he hissed out.

Bixlow looked confused, "Laxus?"

Laxus turned around and walked over toward Lucy. "Leave him for Natsu," Bixlow and the others nodded in understanding and Laxus pulled Lucy against him in an embrace. He ducked his head down to whisper in her ear. "Take the rest of the night off, okay? Tomorrow too," He murmured.

"Laxus, I'm fine." She whispered.

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling,"

"Are you sure?" Lucy's voice was muffled by Laxus's shirt.

Laxus's hand moved up and down her back in a type of soothing gesture, something he wasn't known for doing, but Lucy had been like a younger sister too him since she started working at Fairy Tail two years earlier. "Yeah, I'm sure Blondie."

She swallowed, "Makarov-." She started.

He cut her off, "He'll understand."

She nodded. She knew fully well that the bar owner, Makarov, would probably tell her the same thing Laxus had.

Not three seconds later the bar doors slammed open. "Laxus!" Both Lucy and Laxus turned around at his voice, catching a glimpse of pink hair moving through the crowded bar. "I heard what happened, is she okay?" Natsu pushed forward so that he was standing in front of the two blonds.

Lucy turned to face Natsu; Laxus having dropped his arms the second Natsu had shouted his name. "I'm fine Natsu," She tried to smile for him, but the days events were wearing her down, and she could taste blood on her lip.

Natsu's gaze softened when he saw her. "Lucy," he breathed her name out as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. Lucy didn't waste anytime in placing her head against Natsu's chest, her ear plastered over the spot Natsu's heart would be. She never knew quite why, but the sound of Natsu's heart beating always gave her comfort. It was a strong, relaxing sound.

They stayed that way for a moment and she started to zone out, not bothering to listen to Laxus replay what had happened to Natsu. She knew Natsu would probably ask about it later, but he wouldn't pressure her into saying anything if she didn't want to.

Lucy was snapped out of her own musing when she heard Sting's name. She zoomed back into the conversation, but didn't move. No more words were said, but she felt rather than heard Natsu growl low in his throat, the sound reverberating through his chest.

She felt Natsu turn his head to the right, he was looking at Sting. "I'll deal with you later you son of a bitch," Natsu's voice held a dark edge as he spoke. He dipped his head down to whisper in her ear, "Are you sure you're okay?" She moved to speak, but he cut her off, "And don't lie to me and try to brush this off as nothing. I know you far better than that."

She smiled wryly, "It's nothing I can't handle Natsu," You know that, she added silently. "I promise."

Natsu was not the smartest person she knew, not even close, but he was far from the idiot everyone seemed to think he was. She knew that he had some sort of idea as to what her situation at home was.

And it was only a matter of time before he found out the whole truth.

**~The Raven~**

Igneel walked through the front door at around midnight, not at all surprised by the sight that greeted him.

The living room was nearly completely dark, only being illuminated by the muted TV that was flickering with life.

I smile stretched across his face as he noticed the two teens sitting asleep on the couch.

Natsu and Lucy were curled around each other, being about as tangled up as some sort of giant pretzel. How those two weren't dating yet he would never understand.

His smile could only grow larger as Natsu shifted slightly, pressing the blonde girl closer up against him in a protective manner. His grin fell slightly when the TV light casted a shadow over Lucy's face, clearly showing off the split on her lip and bruised jaw line that was not there that morning. He would without a doubt be asking about that in the morning.

Subconsciously his gaze flicked to Natsu, but he shook the ridiculous thought from his mind and squished it before it manifested and he could think too hard about it.

Natsu would rather be ripped apart than hurt this girl anyway.

Igneel knew that feeling of protectiveness very well.

It was exactly how he felt about his wife.

Igneel moved to turn off the TV, but accidentally hit the mute button, causing the TV to blare to life, luckily the volume was turned down low.

He shook his head and was about to hit the power button when a voice caught his attention.

_"Some people believe that raven's guide travelers to their destinations. Others believe that the sight of a solitary raven is considered good luck. While a group of ravens predicts trouble ahead. And a raven right before battle promises victory."_

Igneel didn't move for a moment, perplexed by the statement. "Ravens symbolize victory, huh?" Igneel hit the power button, watching the screen wink out to black, the whole room going dark. He glanced over at the two sleeping teens, "Ravens only bring death," he swallowed, "There isn't any victory in death," He turned around, moving towards the stairs, "Only sadness."

**~The Raven~**

**And there we have chapter two. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**

**Tell me what you think.**

**I also want to know what everyone's favorite line of the chapter was!**

**Tired,**

**~Rivendell**


	3. Memories that Scars Leave

**The Raven**

**Chapter Three: Memories That Scars Leave**

"Lucy…" A long pause, filled with anger and bitter hate followed the single worded sentence. She wasn't sure if she should answer or not so she stayed still. Even if she was supposed to answer she probably would have said nothing.

Her silence greeted the air; and he didn't say anything for what felt like years. There was complete silence before he decided it was time to continue.

"Just what the _fuck_," she flinched slightly as the last word cruelly ripped itself out of his throat, even though she had heard the word a thousand times it always sounded different coming out of his mouth, "Have you done."

She bites back a bitterly sarcastic remark, knowing fully what would happen if she lost her temper and fought back with words.

She couldn't afford to die now. Not now while she still had people to live and fight for.

Lucy knew he wasn't looking for an answer of any kind, and she wasn't prepared to give one. He had no right to interfere with her life in any way. He had no right to care. He had no right to be anywhere near her. He had no right to even look at her after everything he had done.

He had no right…

He- her father- took a step forward and she couldn't stop herself from recoiling a second time, which, admittedly, probably only made things worse for her.

She was terrified of this man.

She was completely and utterly terrified.

And she couldn't help but think she was going to die every single time she saw him.

After a moment of blissful nothingness he seemed to grow tired of her lack of response, because in the next second he had lunged forward and pinned her against the wall behind her by her throat. She let out a strangled cry of surprise before he cut her off by squeezing her airway, nearly crushing her windpipe as he did so.

She lost any air she had rather quickly, and everything started to blur around her.

She was losing oxygen.

Fast.

Lucy blinked back the tears threatening to spill over her eyes. She would not give him that satisfaction.

She could hear the sound of him screaming something at her, words garbled together in a string of curses and bitter phrases, but she couldn't make out the words.

She wondered briefly if that was a bad thing.

She was losing focus.

She hadn't meant to do anything wrong. She only went out to go see Erza and Levy. This shouldn't be happening.

The day shouldn't have ended like this.

This shouldn't have been happening.

It just shouldn't.

She wouldn't be able to leave her room until the bruises had healed. She'd leave her room if only bruises would heal.

He brought his fist down hard on the side of her face.

Once. Twice. And then a third time that left her head spinning.

Pain.

She could taste blood in her mouth, as well as feel a sticky substance run down the side of her face, leaving scarlet puddles on the ground beneath her.

A home was not supposed to be a place to hide from the world. She shouldn't have to be afraid of her father.

Because, really? Who was supposed to protect you when it was your parents who hurt you?

That was her last though before the shadows consumed her, and then… Nothing…

Nothing, but darkness and the cold floor beneath her...

**~The Raven~**

Bleary eyes blinked awake some time later.

She was alone.

And she could feel her heartbreaking from the pain that she felt inside.

Everyday was the same.

She fights like hell.

She hurts.

She breaks.

Lucy couldn't help but wonder why this happened.

Did anyone ever hear her when she cried out?

She rolled onto her side, eyes flickering in and out of focus before finally settling on the warped pools of blood that surrounded her head, thrown out of shape by the movement of her hair dragging through them.

She must have taken a bad blow to the head.

Not that that had never happened before.

A soft scrapping noise from her left caught her attention and she twisted her head around to look in the direction of the sound.

Almost immediately she regretted ever waking up from her unconscious state.

She would have rather been dead than alive and seeing what she was at that moment. But she wasn't dead. And she was seeing what was in front of her.

There was a large black bird sitting not even three feet away from her. Pecking at what like the remains of a human arm, she couldn't tell exactly. The piece of flesh was mangled, bits of the skin shredded and ripped away in an almost delicate way. How could that be? A limb torn apart in a way that almost seemed…

She pulled away from her thoughts in the next moment. The smell of iron had hit her and there was nothing delicate about the liquid poison that she tasted on a regular basis. She didn't turn away though. She couldn't. It was like looking a train wreck. You know what is going to happen, but you can't rip your gaze from the horror that seems to unfold right in front of you. It's the only thing you can see. You just can't stop watching… you just can't. And it killed you a little bit every moment of watching.

It was as if time had slowed down, the seconds stretching out into the longest of her life, when the raven twisted around to look at her as well.

She was less than surprised when she saw the blue icy blue eye staring straight back at her. She knew it. She _fucking_ knew it. Why wouldn't it be _that_ bird?

She just could not catch a break in this life or the next, could she?

The blue eye swiveled, seemingly peering directly into her soul, chilling her.

The raven 'cawed' and flapped its wings in an agitated manner.

Apparently it didn't like what it saw. Or maybe she was just imagining things.

Lucy let out a hiss as a sudden wave of pain washed over her, making her head spin and her eyes squeeze shut on instinct. She coughed twice into her hand before opening her eyes, shutting them once more as she saw the blood coating the palm of her hand. Such a wonderful way to start the day, bleeding internally, that is.

She shifted her gaze back to the raven, watching it hop away from the bloody mess on the ground, or rather, watching it move noticeably closer to _her_. She stared at the bird for what seemed like forever, memorizing the way it regarded her coldly, as if it didn't like her in the slightest, and studying how it moved, subtly skirting closer every few minutes, thinking she didn't notice.

Before she could really think about it, she did one of the strangest things she could have done.

She reached out and stroked the left side of the raven's neck.

It froze at her touch, and she probably would have as well if she was in the bird's place. "What do you want from me?" The raven stared at her with unblinking eyes, slowly leaning into her touch. She was surprised to say the least. She would have thought that the bird- he, she added as an afterthought- would have flinched away from her, recoiling as if he had been burned.

But, no, here was the bird that had one day earlier had ripped its claws across her neck and had been torn apart by her dog. How this bird was even alive was a mystery to her. In all honesty he should have been dead, but he wasn't. It was almost a miracle.

A loud 'bang' broke the heavy silence of the room, nearly scaring her to death and sending the raven into a hysterical fit.

He flapped his wings and lurched into the air, causing her to jerk back in fear. A scream tore from her throat as the raven's claws caught the skin of her right arm just above the elbow before tearing the flesh up to her shoulder.

Her eyes sprang open just in time to see another dark shape moving towards her, another raven.

This one's left eye was pale red.

The raven had its talons out stretched for her face, ready to dig them sharply into her eye sockets. It was going to rip out her eyes!

The raven was too close, she could see her own horror filled face reflecting all too well in the bird's eyes.

By the time she started to react it was far too late, she could feel the sharp claws brush across the skin near her eyes, and then-

**~The Raven~**

Lucy jolted awake, nearly falling off of the couch as she did.

It had been a dream.

All of it had been a dream.

She sucked in a shallow breath, running a shaking hand through her tangled hair as she did so. She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could; only stopping when she saw an explosion of colors dance behind her eyelids. She couldn't believe how real it had seemed. Her attempts to calm herself down were failing miserably, nothing seemed to be working.

Lucy was still shaking when she felt an arm tighten its grip around her, followed by a body shifting behind her.

Natsu…

She had forgotten he was there for a moment. She wasn't sure how she could have forgotten though; she was practically sitting in his lap, right hand linked with his- the one currently curled over her stomach, her left hand had fallen down to rest just above his knee when she had jerked awake.

Correction.

She was sitting in his lap. How that had happened she didn't have the slightest idea.

"Lucy?" Natsu's voice was heavily layered with sleep, clearly showing that he had just woken up. That would probably be her fault.

She glanced at the clock to her left, squinting to read the time; it was still early, just after two.

She felt Natsu shift again, moving to sit up straight instead of half lying against the couch.

She squeezed her hand resting above his knee, "Everything's okay, Natsu," She turned her head to look him in the eyes, "Go back to sleep."

Natsu looked less that enthusiastic about her request, but after searching her face for anything that could be wrong he complied, merely tightening his hold on her, pressing her flush against him in the process, before he let sleep take him again.

Lucy's eyes softened and she couldn't help but smile as she looked at her sleeping best friend. She really didn't deserve him, not in the slightest. Even at his worst he would still be a better person than she ever could.

With that thought in mind she stood up.

Well… she tried to.

Natsu's grip was relentless, but after several minutes of twisting around she finally managed to free herself from his hold.

Not that she wanted to leave.

Once Lucy was free she smiled down at the boy in front of her, she had no idea how she had met someone as wonderful as him. Without a second thought she leaned down and kissed him softly on the cheek.

When she pulled back she smiled one last time before turning around and walked into the kitchen across the hallway.

She stood with her hands braced against the countertop once she was in the kitchen, heavily dropping down onto the seat.

She didn't know if she should spend the rest of the night at the Dragneel's home or just go back to the awful place she liked to call her home.

If she went home her father's anger would be less than if she stayed here until morning, but Natsu would probably have a heart attack if he woke up only to find her not where he last saw her.

Lucy sighed heavily. She could deal with her own pain, but not Natsu's.

Never his…

She reached down and pulled up the hem of her top on the right side until it rested just below her right breast, until she could see _it_.

A thin, pale, raised scar stretched from the top of her right hip, running until it hit the bottom of her breast on the same side.

It was a faded scar, but she knew it would never truly disappear. That much was for sure.

She lightly ran a finger over the mark, all of the memories related to the damaged stretch of skin flooding back to her in the next moment.

Because, unfortunately, every scar she had left a memory with it, and she had plenty of scars, she almost laughed at her own thoughts, remembering something she had read the other day with Natsu.

Huginn and Muninn.

In Norse Mythology the two ravens symbolized 'Thought' and 'Memory'.

_"Yes Natsu, I'm fine," her friend just could not seem to take a hint._

_ She heard him sigh over the phone, "But Lucy," he was whining now, "I don't think you should be walking home alone."_

_ She rolled her eyes, "Natsu, I don't need you to drive me home," She could see her house from where she was standing. "I'm almost there." Geez… sometimes he acted like he was her father._

_ Actually… no. He was nothing like her father._

_ "But Lucy-."_

_ She cut him off, "Natsu, do you hear this," she jingled her keys near the cell phone, before sticking it into the lock and twisting the knob. "That's the sound of me opening my front door." _

_ Natsu sighed, "Alright, fine. But next time you're walking home alone don't expect my help."_

_ Her lips twitched into a smile as she shut the door behind her, locking it quickly. "Aww Natsu," her voice is dripping with sarcasm and she knows that he knows that she's joking with him, "I love you too."_

_ Natsu laughed lightly, "Yeah, yeah," She can't tell if he's embarrassed or not, "I'll see you Monday," she nods although he can't see it. He was being dragged off somewhere with Wendy and Igneel for the rest of the weekend._

_ "Yeah," she whispers the word into the phone, "See you later, Natsu."_

_ He calls out a goodbye to her in return before she ends the call, still with a smile stretched across her face._

_ "You love him, huh?" Her smile fell away in an instant. The voice is menacing, filled with rage and something akin to loathing._

_ She turned around "So what if I do?" She didn't deny it. To deny the accusation would make her a bigger liar than she already was._

_ His eyes glint dangerously in the dark hallway and she found herself standing face to face with some kind of monster, all sharp fangs and twisted claws._

_ He walked closer to her and she shifted her gaze to the ground, "Well… that might just be a problem," She didn't see the small screw in his palm until he roughly shoved it into the flesh above her hip, twisting it cruelly before jerking his hand up._

_ Lucy let out a loud shriek as the cold metal plunged into her skin and she felt the need to throw up as she _heard_ her flesh tear as the metal moved across it, sliding painfully over her ribs. The screw was pulled from her chest with an awful noise and she could feel the blood running down her side._

_ And the pain… it was worse than anything she had ever felt before, it was indescribable. It wasn't the same kind of pain that came with being hit too hard, or breaking a bone._

_ This was different, very different. _

_ And the first thought that ran through Lucy's mind was that she was going to die. She was going to die and no one would realize it for days._

_ Lucy looked up at her father, her eyes an awful mixture of pain, betrayal, and confusion, why would he do that?_

_ Was he trying to kill her?_

_ Her questions went unanswered as he turned around and walked away as if nothing had happened._

_ If she wasn't leaning against the front door, one hand pressed against her side to stop the bleeding, the other holding the doorknob to stabilize her, she probably would have passed out then and there._

"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?" A voice asked from behind her.

Lucy didn't bother to turn around as she dropped her shirt back down, "Yeah," She tightened her hold on the counter. "Yeah, I am, Grandine," she turned her back to the countertop, choosing instead to look at the woman she wished she could call her mother, "And I still can't thank you enough for saving my life that day."

After finally regaining her bearings Lucy had stumbled next door, to Natsu's house, praying to what ever God was up there that Grandine was home. She thanked her lucky stars every day that he best friends mother was a surgeon.

Lucky for her Grandine had been home. She had pulled Lucy into the house and ran to call an ambulance. Lucy practically had to rip the phone away from the woman, pleading with her not to tell anyone. Grandine had complied after a few moments, but only under the condition that Lucy tells her _everything_.

And so she did. And in the end Lucy promised Grandine that she would live to see her graduation day.

She still remembered how that conversation ended.

_Grandine glanced at her from the corner of her eye, "And how can I be sure he won't kill you?"_

_ Lucy sighed deeply, "You can't," she finally whispered, looking at Grandine, "You just have to trust me."_

Grandine sent her a smile, "I couldn't just let you die now could I?"

Lucy smiled back; "Well technically…" she trailed off as Grandine laughed loudly before she slapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to smother the noise, trying not to wake the boy sleeping on the couch twenty feet away.

Grandine shook her head, dark blue hair swaying back and forth, "I couldn't let you die, Lucy," her eyes misted over, "I would never be able to forgive myself."

Lucy nodded back in understanding; she could understand how Grandine felt.

"Did he hit you again?"

The question made Lucy's head snap back up, eyebrow quirked in confusion. "That bruise on your face," Grandine clarified, gesturing to the mark that Sting had left nearly four hours earlier, "It seems fresh."

Lucy shook her head, "Nah, that one's from Fairy Tail," Grandine narrowed her eyes slightly, not quite understanding, "A couple of Saber Tooth boys came in, they caused some trouble."

Grandine nodded in understanding. The boys of Saber Tooth weren't bad exactly. They just didn't know when to stop.

In fact the only one any member of Fairy Tail seemed to have a problem with was Sting. The other boys were fine; they just tended to help Sting cause trouble.

"Was it that Eucliffe boy again?" Grandine questioned. Lucy only nodded in response. Wasn't it always?

The root of the problem between Fairy Tail and Saber Tooth was the issue between Natsu and Sting.

Apparently the two boys had gotten in a serious fight once at Fairy Tail, Lucy had been working that night, but by the time she and Laxus had made it across the bar to stop the fight Gray and Gajeel had already pulled Natsu off of two other boys, Sting and Rouge, lying on the ground, bloody and bruised.

That was the fight she had mentioned to Sting the night before.

Lucy herself wasn't quite sure what had caused the fight. When she had asked Natsu about it his eyes had narrowed and he had growled low in his chest before calming down again, after that he pulled her into a hug and told her not to worry about it.

When she had asked Gray and Gajeel they had said almost the same thing, with Gajeel whispering to her 'not to leave Natsu's side' before he left.

Lucy had only given Gajeel a thankful look. While he hadn't exactly told her what the fight was about she now knew it must have had something to do with her or something about Natsu's relationship with her.

"What about the other bruises?" She broke out of her thoughts at the sound of Grandine's voice. "The makeup is wearing off, you have quite a few."

Lucy nodded, "I came home late two nights ago," she shrugged, "He wasn't happy," and speaking of happy…

A soft 'meow' sounded throughout the kitchen and Lucy looked down to see Natsu's small blue cat looking up at her with wide eyes.

Lucy smiled as she reached down to pick up the cat, "I didn't mean you Happy," She chuckled softly as the cat purred and rubbed his face against hers for a moment.

Grandine nodded, her eyes holding a ferocious intensity, reminding Lucy of a dragon's. "If I ever meet your father alone in a dark alleyway…" She trailed off and Lucy couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"And how," Lucy started, "Do you think that conversation would go down with Igneel?"

Grandine blinked once, "Probably something like this," She coughed once, her voice becoming lower in an attempt to mimic Igneel's, "'Grandine, my love, you did what?'" Her voice rose back to its normal pitch, "'Igneel, I only did what I had to do'," Back down, "'But Grandine, now I have to turn you in'," And back up, "' Do it and I'll rip your-.'"

"Grandine!" Lucy didn't know if she should laugh or be mortified.

**~The Raven~**

_It is the eyes that are the doorways to the soul. If the eyes sparkle, the soul is full of life. If the eyes are hollow, they may be dead in sin._

Igneel remembered hearing that, he just couldn't remember where he had heard it.

Some days he wished he had never become a detective.

How could people expect him to protect the community when he couldn't even protect one of the kids he cared about most?

Igneel was not an idiot. He knew what was happening to Lucy. He just didn't know who was at fault. And without any evidence there was nothing he could do anyway.

Igneel could only stare down at the mangled body in front of him, a type of sick repulsion flooding through him.

That poor girl…

Igneel had been called in at two that morning, much to his chagrin, to investigate a new murder.

A murder not thirty feet from the one the day before... At first Igneel wanted nothing more than to just write the coincidence off as nothing.

But, of course, life was never that simple.

The two cases had almost immediately been linked together because of how close the two murders were and the way both murders were executed.

It was actually quite similar to the last.

Both victims had been females with blonde hair, they had both been around the age of eighteen, they were both going to the local college although only one of the girls was originally from Magnolia, both bodies were unrecognizable at first glance, almost as if they had been torn apart by some sort of animal; Igneel could only assume that the girls both had a similar eye color though as well.

He stepped closer to the body. The girl's throat had been crushed; leaving her with no way to breathe, probably the cause of death, and, the sickest part, her eyes had been gouged out without any hint of precision.

Igneel glanced at the body again, eyes flickering away a second later. He looked up at the stars that lit the sky and could only pray that nothing happened to Wendy or Lucy.

Something was happening on Thirty First Street, he could feel it.

And he intended to find out exactly what it was.

Igneel turned on his heel, quickly walking over to his partner, Macao, and one of the younger cops, Zancrow. The two males glanced up as Igneel stepped up to them, Macao nodding a "hello". Igneel gestured with his head at Zancrow. "What's desk boy doing here?" He asked. Zancrow was a relatively new detective. He was a huge flirt with a bit of a violent streak. Igneel had had to pull him off of several people in the past six months that he had been working with the blond man. He was also a pyromaniac that had no qualms with setting small animals on fire, or so he had been told by one of the other rookie cops. Mark or Mike, maybe Max. Something that started with an "M".

Zancrow's red eyes glinted in anger. "Watch it, old man," he hissed. Zancrow was not thrilled with the fact that he had been placed on desk duty after his last outburst in which he had slugged a man twice and almost set him on fire. It still amazed Igneel that he didn't get in trouble for that action, other than the desk duty of course. "Captain Porla said to come out here with you guys," Zancrow mumbled. "He said it would be a good idea to 'watch the pros do their work," he explained.

Igneel threw his hands up into the air between them, backing off immediately. He didn't need to start a fight with the other man while they were on the job. "What do you think about Miss Jane Doe over there?" He asked Macao.

Zancrow chuckled. "Blonde and defenseless, just how I like them," he joked, a dark glint in his eyes that Igneel didn't like.

"Would you focus?" Macao grumbled, smacking the younger man. "We're here to investigate a murder, not talk about your sex life," he hissed. Zancrow glared at the other man, but said nothing. "Good. Now," he turned to Igneel. "I found something interesting that I think you'll want to see…"

**~The Raven~**

**Well… that was… fun… I guess.**

**I threw in a little Grandine there, hope someone likes that.**

**And a little NaLu for everyone who's reading this.**

**Any questions about there relationship in this story, please ask. I don't want anyone to be confused :D**

**Not very happy with the end of the chapter, but I suppose I can go back and fix that at a later date.**

**Everyone better be happy this is up a day earlier than it normally is.**

**Any questions feel free to ask away.**

**Love and Always,**

**~Rivendell**


	4. Hurt

**The Raven**

**Chapter Four: Hurt**

**I hurt myself today**

**To see if I still feel**

**I focus on the pain**

**The only thing that's real**

"You're telling me," Lucy skeptically stared at the dark haired boy in front of her, "That you think it's a good idea," She paused in thought, "To go investigate an old Middle School abandoned during the nineteen-forties…" The boy moved to speak, but she cut him off, "While there is, quite possibly, a homicidal maniac killing persons in the area."

The other teenager shifted nervously, an embarrassed blush coloring his face, "Well when you put it that way-."

"You're an idiot Gray," Lucy deadpanned. Really? That was the reason that five guys had broken into her house at eleven at night? They wanted to ask her if she wanted to go gallivanting around the town in the middle of the night? She was going to kill them. She was going to kill all of them and she was going to kill Gray first.

And she did.

Lucy sprung up from her spot between Natsu and Gajeel on the couch and lunged at Gray. In the next two seconds she had wrapped her arms around his throat and started to strangle him.

Just kidding!

But she wanted to, dear God she really wanted to.

And she probably would have if she wasn't currently wrapped in only a towel.

Lucy's scowl deepened as she recounted the events from roughly ten minutes earlier.

_She placed a hand on the side of the shower in an attempt to prop herself up. She had turned around so that she was facing directly into the spray, letting the scalding water beat down on her face and chest._

_She had already scrubbed her skin raw trying to remove all of the dried blood. _

_For a moment she let a fantasy play out. _

_She imagined herself slipping on the wet shower floor. She would crack her head open on the other end of the shower, no one would notice. No one was home. She would bleed out and no one would find out until her father returned the next night._

_Maybe even the day after if he was still hung over…_

_Lucy shook her head. _

_She was being ridiculous._

_She couldn't do that to herself._

_She couldn't just die._

_She couldn't do that to Erza and Levy._

_She couldn't do that to the guys._

_She couldn't do that to Wendy and Grandine and Igneel._

_She couldn't do that to Natsu…_

_She had to live. _

_If not for herself she had to live for them. She promised Grandine that she would graduate. She had promised Wendy that she would always be there for the younger girl. And she promised Natsu…_

_Lucy shook her head. _

_She wouldn't go down that road._

_Not today at least._

_ Lucy leant her head against the shower wall in frustration, turning the water off with one hand and pressing the other against her temple._

_ She was going to have a headache._

_ She just knew it._

_ Deciding she would rather not stand freezing in the now cold air of the bathroom, Lucy pulled a towel down from the rack next to the shower, wrapping it securely around herself._

_ Lucy didn't bother to grab her clothes still sitting on the floor, she would just get them later, and instead she looked at the mirror._

_ She didn't look half as bad now as she did before the shower. Most of her older bruises were yellowing, making them harder to see._

_ Currently the only visible bruises she had were the two on the right side of her face, courtesy of Sting and her father, and a dark mark around her left upper arm._

_ The bruise on her arm was from about an hour earlier. _

_ Her father was not happy about her spending the night and most of that day at Natsu's house and then working at Fairy Tail from three in the afternoon to ten at night._

_ And, well… now she had a mark on her arm to remind her not to do it again._

_ Not that she would listen._

_ Lucy let out a soft sigh as she turned away from the mirror before throwing open the bathroom door._

_ She screamed._

_ Upon opening said door she was immediately greeted by the sight of an almost naked male staring at her._

_ She stopped screaming as soon as she recognized who it was._

_ "Dammit, Stripper!" A gruff voice spoke from her right, "Put some clothes on!" She turned towards the voice, only to come face to face with Gajeel's scowling face, although the angry look twisted into a half smile when she caught his eye._

_ "Geez Gray…," Jellal moved so he was standing next to Gajeel rather than behind him, "You scared her with your ugly face."_

_ Gray ignored Jellal's comment in favor of finding his shirt and pants, which he had, somehow, managed to lose during the trip from her front door up the stairs. _

_ A soft laugh rang from her left and she turned to stare at the Salmon haired teenage boy standing there._

_ Natsu gave her a bright smile, "Hey Lucy!" His eyes had a wicked gleam to them, "Mind coming with us for a moment?"_

_ Natsu, of course, didn't give her a chance to respond. He merely lunged towards her, slinging his arms around her middle and tossing her onto his shoulder._

_ "Natsu!" She hissed at the boy currently holding her against her will, "Put me down," He ignored her as he walked down the stairs, Jellal and Gajeel following right behind him, "And why the fuck are you guys in my house!?"_

And that led to where they were now.

When they had finally gotten to the bottom of the stairs Natsu placed her on the floor and she had realized that there was a fifth boy standing in her living room.

Lyon.

Lyon was Gray's older brother, not that they looked or acted anything alike.

After saying a quick 'hello' to Lyon Gray had proceeded to tell her why they were there.

She was brought back to the present by Gray's agitated cry, "How am I an idiot!?"

She quirked an eyebrow, "You really want me to answer that?"

Gray huffed, "Why don't you want to go with?"

Lucy's eyes narrowed, "I _am not_ going to play babysitter for five teenage boys."

Natsu laughed next to her, "I told you guys she wouldn't want to be stuck with us, but you didn't listen to me."

Gray looked like he was about to retort so Lucy stepped in, "Why didn't you guys just ask your girlfriends?"

None of the boys spoke for a long moment.

"None of us wanted to wake up Erza," Jellel murmured.

"The Shrimp is too easy to lose…" Gajeel shrugged, not bothering to deny that Levy was, in fact, his girlfriend.

Lucy crossed her arms, "What about Juvia?"

At the mention of his girlfriend Gray fell unceremoniously onto the floor in a heap, murmuring something under his breath that sounded oddly like 'Juvia' and 'hurts'.

Natsu choked back a laugh before leaning down to whisper in her ear, causing Lucy to shiver as his lips brushed her skin, "When Gray asked Juvia to go she slapped him and then slammed the door in his face."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh as she turned towards Natsu, "What?"

The boy just smiled at her, "I think we woke her up."

Lucy face held a look of confusion at that, "Speaking of which, how did you guys even know I was awake?"

Jellal was the one to answer, "Natsu could hear the shower running from outside," He paused and Lucy shot Natsu a look to which the pink haired boy just smiled, "We figured it was you and then Gajeel picked the lock."

She really should not have been surprised that Gajeel had been the one to actually break into the house.

A sudden thought came to Lucy, "What would you guys have done if it was actually my father that stepped out of the shower?"

Jellal opened his mouth to answer before closing it again, his own eyes narrowed in thought. The other guys looked similar. Apparently that thought had never crossed their minds.

And then Gray opened his mouth.

"Well, of course," He spoke with an air of superiority, "We would have politely explained why we were there and then-."

Gajeel cut him off, "We would have run like hell."

Gray shot him a dirty look as all of the other boys nodded.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Of all of the people you guys know, why would you ask me?"

Gray smirked, "I figured Natsu would need _someone_ to hold his hand," Gray cackled as he danced out of the way of the shoe that Natsu had chucked at his head.

Lucy sighed; these boys could be such idiots. She smiled lightly, but, she figured, they were her idiots.

"Alright, I'll go."

Natsu and Gray stopped mid argument at her words, the other three boys also turning to stare at her.

A baffled 'Huh?' was Gray's intelligent answer.

Gajeel and Jellal high-fived on her right and Lyon smiled from where he sat across from her on the chair behind his brother.

Natsu's face softened and he leaned down towards her again, "You don't have to go with us if you don't want to Lucy," He was whispering again, "You know that."

She turned and smiled at Natsu once he pulled away from her, "Someone has to make sure you idiots stay out of trouble, it might as well be me."

They all laughed, Jellal and Natsu both shouting out a 'yes', and Gray jumping to his feet and letting out a 'whoop' of happiness, Gajeel and Lyon only smiled at her and nodded their heads.

Gray ran towards the door, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Lucy's jaw dropped, was this boy stupid? When she called them idiots earlier she was only kidding! For God's sake! She wasn't even-!

"Gray…" Said boy turned at Natsu's use of his name, "Maybe we should let Lucy put some clothes on first."

Gray suddenly seemed to remember the fact that they had grabbed right after she had gotten out of the shower, his mouth forming an 'o' shape as he walked over to Natsu. "Yeah…" Gray trailed off for several heartbeats, "I think you're right."

And with that, Lucy stood up from her spot on the couch, "I'll be right back guys," She walked two feet before stopping. In a flash Lucy had turned around and grabbed both Natsu and Gray by their shirt collars, or, well, Gray's shirt collar and Natsu's scarf. She pulled their faces down so that they were less than three inches away from her own, "Do not. Destroy. Anything!" She hissed at them.

Lucy didn't make a move to let go until both boys nodded at her, their eyes wide in fear.

After letting both boys go she walked away and up the stairs as if nothing had happened.

Once the boys were well out of her sight she heard them start to argue about something or other, not that it really bothered her. She was use to them fighting one moment and then acting like best friends the next.

That's just how they were.

Lucy smiled as she pushed open the door to her room, her smile growing as she saw the large, white dog currently passed out on her bed.

She walked over to the dog, "Plue," She whispered, poking the dog lightly. He raised his head slightly, saw it was her, and then moved to go back to bed.

Some guard dog she had there.

"Guess who's here," She continued, a devilish smirk spreading across her face, "That's right! Gray's here!"

At the sound of her friend's name Plue jumped to his feet and practically shoved her out of the way as he ran out of the room.

Lucy didn't really know why, but for some reason or another Plue just could not stand Gray.

He would snarl and growl at the raven haired boy as if he was a demon in disguise.

Meanwhile he loved all of her other friends.

Lucy shut the door as soon as Plue left, bursting out into laughter as Gray cried out in surprise at the sight of Plue.

She shook her head in amusement as she shrugged on her clothes.

Her lips twitched into a smile when she realized that it was Natsu's sweatshirt that she had pulled on over her head.

It was by far her favorite sweatshirt of his.

It was a normal black, pull over sweatshirt. The only thing strange about it was the red dragon that seemed to coil itself up the wearer's right side, the large wings stretched out across the front and back of the sweatshirt.

Unless the person wearing it had their right arm stretched into the air no one would actually know what was there. All they would be able to see would be the red wings.

Lucy ran her finger tips lightly over the dragon, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

She should probably give this sweatshirt back to Natsu at some point.

She smiled again.

She would definitely give this sweatshirt back to Natsu.

And soon at that.

Lucy traced over the dragon once more, thinking of it as some sort of protection from harm.

Just like Natsu…

Lucy laughed under her breath at the comparison as she walked out of her room.

"Dammit dog! Get off of me!"

Lucy had to bite her lip to hold back the smile threatening to spread across her face.

Unfortunately she wasn't able to hold back her laughter when she actually saw what had happened in the living room.

Poor Gray…

Said boy was currently sprawled across the floor on his stomach, arms and legs spread out, and well… he was missing a few choice articles of clothing.

Plue was a different story.

The large dog was sitting on Gray's back, one of his front paws resting on the side of Gray's face, a low growl ripping itself from his throat every time Gray twitched in the slightest.

Lucy couldn't help but wonder if Plue would ever bite Gray.

It was a possibility after all.

None of the other boys had made any move to help Gray.

Not that she really expected them to.

Lyon was laughing at Gray and insulting him every five seconds.

Gajeel and Jellal were playing rock- paper- scissors.

And Natsu?

Natsu was staring directly at her.

"So that's where my sweatshirt went!" Natsu laughed good-naturedly, a large grin spread across his face.

Lucy smiled back at her best friend, mouth open to retort.

Unfortunately someone just had to cut her off.

"Aww, Gajeel look!" Both Lucy and Natsu turned to look at the boy pinned to the floor, "They're already sharing clothes!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at Gray, motioning with one hand for Plue to get off of the raven haired boy.

He did… albeit rather reluctantly.

Gajeel snorted, "They're hardly sharing clothes Stripper," The taller boy rubbed a hand over his jaw, "I don't think I've ever seen Salamander wear any of Bunny Girl's clothes."

Gray brushed off Gajeel's nickname for him, "Why not?" He pushed himself to his feet, walking over to Natsu with a devious smirk, "I bet Natsu would look great in a thong."

And with that being said Lucy whipped her hand across the side of Gray's face.

"Ouch!" He scrambled back, "Lucy- what the-!" He dodged her next slap, "Please stop hitting me!"

Lucy rolled her eyes as she walked over to the front door, "Oh, please. Don't be a baby Gray," He shot her a dirty look, "Oh… Hey Gray?"

He stopped rubbing his face and looked at her, "What?"

She opened the door, "Clothes."

"Dammit!"

**~The Raven~**

"You're telling me that you think we should split up?"

"What's wrong Lucy? Scared?" He snickered at her.

"Hardly," She shot back at the boy, "But when you fall down a flight of stairs and Lyon doesn't bother helping you, don't expect my help."

Gray rolled his eyes, "Lyon would help me!"

"No I wouldn't!" Lyon shot back, already walking down one of the dark hallways, flashlight in hand.

Gray looked horrified, "Lyon!" he scooped down to pick up his, once again, discarded shirt, "Wait for me!"

The two brothers disappeared from sight a moment later and Lucy turned to the other three boys, "So what's the plan?"

The three boys started to do that thing.

You know that one thing where they start to communicate with their eyes in a freaky way? And then smirk as if they've just insulted the other person without actually saying anything, before nodding at the other person as if they've agreed on something.

Yeah… They did that.

She would never understand the male species.

Never.

Jellal looked over at her, "You go with Natsu," He shared a secretive look with Gajeel, "Gajeel and I have some things we need to discuss."

Wait what?

Gajeel and Jellal weren't exactly the best of friends.

What the heck would they need to discuss in private?

Without answering her unspoken questions the two boys walked down a different hallway than Gray and Lyon did, although they disappeared from sight just as quickly. Like some sort of phantom that was never even there in the first place.

She stared at the place the two boys had been for a long moment, being broken out of her thoughts by Natsu's hand linking with hers.

She looked up at the pink haired boy, still slightly baffled by the fact that that was actually his natural hair color, and met his dark eyes.

"Come on," He whispered to her, his hand squeezing her own, "Let's go this way."

**~The Raven~**

"Hey Gray?" Lyon didn't bother to turn and look at his younger brother.

"Yeah?"

Lyon pondered how to ask his next question. He didn't exactly know Gray's friends very well and he wasn't sure how Gray would react to what he had to say.

And anyway, it wasn't really any of his business in the first place.

He just didn't like what he had seen.

Lyon sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, deciding it would probably be best if he just spat out the words, "What's up with your friend?"

Gray's eyes narrowed in confusion, "Natsu? Sorry about him. He was dropped on his head as a child."

Lyon slapped a hand over his face, "No dude! The girl! Lucy!" His brother was such an idiot sometimes. It pissed him off to no end.

"Oh."

"Yeah 'oh'. What's wrong with her?"

Gray turned his head away from Lyon, "What do you mean?"

Lyon sighed again, now he was just avoiding the question, "Who's hitting her?"

Gray chewed on his lower lip for several seconds, "The bruise on her face is from a fight at Fairy Tail…" He trailed off, staring into space, "Saber Tooth member."

"You say that like this isn't the first bruise you've seen."

A sneer overcame Gray's normally mellow expression, "That's because it's not." His eyes narrowed, "It's not even close to the first one I've seen."

Lyon nodded, "So do you know who's hitting her?"

Gray could only shake his head in response.

"Does she have a boyfriend? Someone who just doesn't like her? A coworker that would do something like this to her?" The questions flew from Lyon mouth before he could stop them.

Gray shook his head again, "I know for a fact that she doesn't have a boyfriend," He cut Lyon off before he could ask anything else; "She would have told someone if she did. Not to mention the fact that Natsu practically scares of any male in the vicinity." Lyon nodded and Gray continued, "Lucy doesn't have any enemies. Well… not that I'm aware of anyway. She's a rather well liked person."

Gray paused, "As for a coworker, the only person who would even pose a threat to Lucy would be Laxus, but he would snap your neck if you ever implied that he _would_ hurt Lucy," Gray elaborated as Lyon shot him a horrified look, "Laxus is like an older brother to her. I've seen him knock out guys for implying less than you just did."

Lyon nodded and chewed his lower lip, "Could it be Natsu that's-?"

Before Lyon could even finish his sentence Gray had already slammed him against the wall to his right.

"You listen to me Lyon," Gray's voice held a dark tone to it, "Natsu's a lot of things," Gray practically growled out the words, "But a guy who hits girls? That's not one of them," He squeezed Lyon's shoulders tightly, "He would never hit a girl… especially not Lucy."

"Why do you say that?" The shock wore off and Lyon found the courage to ask.

Gray took in a deep breath through his nose, "Lucy is…" He trailed off, looking for the right word to use in this situation, "She's special to him," A small smile spread over his face, and his grip loosened, "He would _never_ hurt her, Lyon. Not ever."

Lyon swallowed, "You're sure about that?"

Gray nodded, "As sure as I've ever been about anything."

Lyon let out a breath, "Okay… Okay, I'm sorry for asking."

Gray let him go, "Its okay. I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your place."

Lyon smiled, "Yeah, you definitely would have."

The two continued walking in silence for another hundred some feet.

Lyon stopped as a sudden thought struck him.

Gray turned around once he noticed that Lyon wasn't walking beside him.

"Lyon?" He walked over to his brother, "What's wrong?"

Lyon's head snapped up, "Gray?"

Gray looked confused, "Yeah?"

"What about her father?"

**~The Raven~**

"So what is it you need to talk to me about Fernandez?"

Said blue haired male sighed, talking to Gajeel was never an easy feat. The only one's who seemed to be able to do so were Levy, Lucy, and Natsu.

Deciding it would just be easier to come out and say it Jellal spoke, "Lucy."

The man with the piercings froze, "What about Bunny Girl?" He asked stiffly.

Jellal paused, "Don't be like that Gajeel. She's my friend too."

Gajeel snorted, "What about Bunny Girl?" He ground the words out between clenched teeth, obviously irked about having to ask the same question twice. That or maybe it had to do with the fact that the question was about Lucy, whom he was rather close to. Not quite as close as Natsu and Lucy were, but certainly closer than _he_ was with Lucy.

Not that that was really a shock.

Jellal mostly hung out with Erza, although he did talk to Lucy and Natsu enough to see the obvious attraction between the two.

Than again, Gajeel had known Lucy for almost a year before he had transferred schools.

So… yeah. Jellal was close to Lucy, just not quite as close as the other boys.

But he did know for a fact that if anyone were to mess with Lucy he would gladly help in knocking them down a peg or two.

Jellal suddenly realized that he had been silent for some time, causing Gajeel to stare at him in annoyance, Jellel swallowed, "You've seen the bruises."

It wasn't a question.

Gajeel snorted again, something he seemed to do a lot, or maybe it was only when he was talking to Jellal, "Haven't we all?" He glanced at Jellal, "If that's all you wanted to talk about than you're wasting my time," And with that being said Gajeel moved to walk away.

Without a second thought Jellal jumped in front of the taller boy, which could possibly be a suicidal attempt, "That's it?" Jellal almost shouted, "You're not going to say anything else on the subject? Do you even care?!"

Gajeel's eyes flash dangerously and Jellal took a step backwards, knowing he had taken things too far.

"You listen to me, asshole," Gajeel all but growled at him, "Lucy is one of the only people I put before myself," his strangely red eyes narrowed, "If you _ever_ imply that I don't care about her again," He trailed off, "Well, you don't want to find out."

Jellal backed down right away, "I know. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to-."

"Save it." Gajeel pushed him out of the way and continued to walk, "I really don't care about your excuses, just don't do it again."

Jellal nodded and trailed after the taller boy, "Do you know who's hurting her?"

Gajeel let out a bitter laugh, "If I did do you think they would still be alive?"

Jellal must have been wearing a horrified expression because Gajeel laughed again, "No seriously, if anyone were to hurt Lucy I would kill them. Laxus would kill them. And all of that is only if Natsu doesn't get there first."

Jellal nodded, "Do you think Natsu knows?"

"About which part?"

"The part where someone is hurting her."

Gajeel snorted again, you might think Jellal thought that a lot, but it was just that often, and just that noticeable, "Of course he knows. Salamander probably realized it a hell of a lot earlier than anyone else did."

Jellal let out a sound of frustration, "Than why didn't he say anything?"

Gajeel glanced at him, "The same reason you didn't say anything until now," He kept walking, "He's not sure how to put it into words… He doesn't know how to just bring something like that up in a conversation."

Jellal mulled Gajeel's words over for a moment, realizing just how true they were, "But I brought it up now… Doesn't that count for something?"

Gajeel shrugged, "I suppose."

"You suppose?"

He 'supposed' what the hell did that even mean?

Gajeel shot him a look, "What do you want me to say? That just because we're talking about it now something good is going to happen? That now that we both know that the other person knows that Lucy is being hurt it will stop?"

Jellal moved to cut in, but Gajeel harshly cut him off, "Because it won't," Gajeel snarled, "It won't stop and there is nothing we can do about it unless Lucy tells us who's hurting her," Jellal noticed the look of self-loathing in Gajeel's eyes.

"Gajeel," Jellal started, "You don't blame yourself for this do you?"

Gajeel turned away from him, "I don't blame myself… it's just," He looked up, avoiding Jellal's gaze, "I've never been able to protect any of the people I care about."

Jellal suddenly seemed to find his shoes to be the most interesting thing he could look at, "Oh."

They walked in silence for several odd minutes, not looking at the other person and basically acting as if the other didn't exist.

Jellal stopped walking, "I'm sorry I said you didn't care about Lucy."

Gajeel stopped walking as well, "I know."

"It's just… She's my friend too… And you're always so callous that I thought…"

Gajeel glanced over at him from the corner of his eye, "Jellal?"

"Yeah?" Jellal was somewhat hesitant to answer; he had just royally pissed off Gajeel in one of the worst ways possible, there was no telling what the dark haired boy would do to him at this point.

"Shut up before I kill you."

"Okay." Jellal's mouth snapped shut.

They started walking once again.

Silence.

"Hey Jellal?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for threatening to kill you."

"I know."

**~The Raven~**

Lucy wasn't even sure what they were arguing about anymore.

One minute they were just talking like they always did, and the next they were at each other's throats, spewing venomous words at the other person.

She never liked fighting with Natsu.

Hurtful things were always tossed between the two, but they both knew the other didn't mean them.

This boy was going to be the death of her. He always seemed to bring out the best and worst in her.

Although she figured she did the exact same thing to him.

They both had their faults.

He was an overprotective idiot who never seemed to know when to say the right things.

And she…

Well, she was a liar who couldn't even seem to tell her best friend what was happening in her life.

She was an idiot.

She knew that Natsu had always seen the bruises.

She knew that she should have just told him what was happening nearly everyday for the past seven years.

She knew that she could have been saved a long time ago if only she had had the courage to speak up.

But she didn't have that courage.

She wasn't like Gajeel or Gray or Jellal.

She wasn't Natsu.

She couldn't fight back. She could only sit back and take the hits, knowing that they had to stop at some point and that was _killing_ her.

She almost laughed.

Who was she fooling?

She was only going to let everyone down.

There was no chance that she would be able to stay alive living with her father for the next year.

Either he was going to kill her himself or it would be her to do it.

She couldn't go on living like this and she couldn't tell anyone else and live.

Her options were starting to limit themselves.

She was running out of choices.

"You know what?" Natsu's shout brought her back to reality, "Fine!" He threw his hands up in exasperation and before she could stop herself she flinched away from him, eyes wide with fear.

What was she doing? Natsu would never hurt her. Not in this lifetime or the next. She knew this, so why was she reacting the way she was?

Natsu's eyes widened when he realized what had just happened, "Fuck," he cursed under his breath, "Lucy, I didn't-!"

"It's okay Natsu," She cut him off, turning her head away from him, "I know you didn't," Her words came out more timid than she had wanted them to be and she cursed herself for that.

"No," Her head snapped around to look at him, but he was burning holes in the floor with his gaze, "No, it's not okay," And then he whipped around and drove his fist straight into the wall behind him.

"Natsu," She shouted, he did it again, "Stop it!"

She lunged forward and grabbed him around the middle, knocking both of them to the ground with her lying on top of him, "What the hell are you doing!?"

What was the matter with this boy?

Natsu swallowed thickly beneath her, looked at everything besides her.

"Natsu!"

"Why didn't you tell me?" His eyes swiveled to meet hers and this time it was her who looked away.

Lucy sat up so that she was sitting on her knees, her legs resting on either side of Natsu's hips.

He followed her up, "Why did you never say anything?" He placed his hands on either side of her face, gently forcing her to look at him.

She sighed, avoiding his eyes, "It's not that easy…"

"It's your dad, isn't it?" Her eyes snapped up to meet his. Natsu let out a bitter laugh, "All this time," He swallowed, "All this time I've been trying to protect you, I've been trying to figure out just who was hurting you," He let out a laugh that sounded like it was mixed with a choked sob, "All this time I've just been letting you go right back to him," He let out the same sobbed laugh and it broke her heart to hear it, "Some friend I am."

"Stop it," She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him to her, his head coming to rest on her shoulder, "This is _not_ your fault," His head turned so that his face was pressed against her neck, and she could feel his tears sliding down his skin as well as hers, "You didn't know."

"But I should have," He choked out.

"And how is that?" She whispered against the top of his head, "How were you supposed to know? I never said anything, I never gave you any indication that anything was wrong," She felt his lips part against her throat so she cut him off, "There was no way you could have just known that something was wrong."

"But the bruises…"

She shushed him, "I'm not mad at you Natsu," She whispered, "I never wanted you to find out in the first place."

His arms coiled around her middle as he pulled her closer to him, "I almost hit you."

"No, you didn't," She sighed, "You would never do that. You know that, I know that, every one knows that."

They both fell silent, simply enjoying the feel of the other person against them- alive… always alive…

Natsu let out a breath against her neck, "Who else knows?"

Lucy hummed lightly, "Probably everyone."

He chuckled lightly and she couldn't hold back the soft smile that spilled over her lips, "I mean who else have you told."

"Your mom."

"My mom?"

"Your mom."

"Why my mom?" He murmured softly.

"Because your mom saved my life," She whispered into his hair, "If she hadn't been there one day I probably wouldn't be alive right not."

He sucked in a shallow breath, "Why did I never hear about this?"

"I asked her not to say anything."

He nodded, seemingly having calmed down, "What happened?"

Lucy sighed; she really should have seen that one coming. Before she could over think what she was about to do she unwound his left arm from her waist and slipped his hand under the sweatshirt she was wearing, letting his hand fall on bare skin.

She felt him freeze at the sudden skin on skin contact before he hissed.

His fingertips had brushed against the scar on her side.

"Oh, Lucy," He could only pull her closer against him, "I'm sorry," His words were just barely audible, "I'm so sorry."

"Its okay, Natsu," She held him just as tightly as he held her, "It's okay."

And that's how they stayed.

Completely curled around each other in the darkness. Almost as if their lives depended on it.

And maybe it did.

There was no telling at that point.

Lucy didn't have the heart to pull away from him and even if she did Natsu wouldn't have let her go.

He never should have let her go in the first place.

"I will protect you," His voice was loud compared to the hushed whispers they had been using moments before, "That is a promise."

**~The Raven~**

"What about him?" Gray asked in confusion.

Lyon rolled his eyes, "Could he be the one hurting her?"

Gray's eyes narrowed slightly, "I don't know."

**~The Raven~**

"Hey Gajeel?"

Gajeel sighed, "What now?"

"Could it be her dad that's hurting her?" Jellal asked.

Gajeel seemed to mull over the question, "Maybe… Actually, it wouldn't really surprise me."

Jellal's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean it wouldn't surprise you?"

"I mean," Gajeel growled, "That the guy is an asshole."

**~The Raven~**

Igneel shoved open the front door of his house. A look of anger and something indescribable spread across his face. From first glance one might just assume that he had had a bad day, but no.

This ran much, much deeper than that.

He was positively livid.

A type of killing intent had spread through him so fast that he had to fight back the urge to scream in frustration.

It was _that_ bad.

The door hit the wall with an audible 'smack' that shook several of the picture frames on the wall.

"Dad?" His head snapped up to look at his daughter standing at the top of the stairs, "Is something wrong?" Wendy's brown eyes were full of concern, voice laced with sleep.

He must have woken her up.

Igneel shook his head, "Everything's fine Wendy. Go back to sleep."

Wendy only nodded before turning around and walking back to her bedroom.

As soon as Igneel heard the soft click of Wendy's door shutting he made a b-line for the kitchen where he knew the person he was looking for was.

**~The Raven~**

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lyon all but shouted at Gray.

Gray faced Lyon, obviously irked, "I mean I don't know. I've never met the guy."

Lyon kicked the wall, "Well that's great, just fucking great."

"Wait," Lyon stopped kicking the wall and turned to Gray, "Natsu has met him. And so has Gajeel."

"So?" Lyon asked.

"So," Gray started, "We can always ask them.

**~The Raven~**

"What are you saying Gajeel?" Jellal had no idea what was even going on at this point. Everything was going right over his head.

"I'm saying," Gajeel spat, "That I'm an idiot for never noticing this before."

Jellal was becoming more confused each second, "What?"

"Think about it," Gajeel started, "Lucy never talks about her family life, never."

"That's not what this is about though is it?"

"No," If it was possible Jellal was sure Gajeel would have burst into flames right then and there, "It's the fact that the only time she's not around any of us is when she's with him," He snarled, "And none of us thought to question it before."

**~The Raven~**

Igneel stepped through the archway into the dark kitchen.

A shadowy figure was sitting at the table there, arms crossed in an agitated manner, "I've been waiting for you, Igneel."

Igneel narrowed his eyes at the person in front of him, the person he had trusted all this time.

The person who had been lying to him all this time.

Igneel growled, he actually growled at the person in front of him, all of his anger and frustration from the past few days spilling over in one emotion filled moment.

"How could you…" He swallowed, "How could you lie to me like this?" He snarled, walking over to the table and slamming his hands down on top of it.

"Lie?" The person laughed lightly, "I never lied to you Igneel," Before Igneel could respond the person continued, "You just never asked.

"I will have you prosecuted for this," Igneel spat.

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise."

The person across the table laughed, they actually _laughed_ at him, and then whispered, "You have no proof."

"Don't take me lightly," Igneel almost laughed, "I have her, that's proof enough isn't it." He didn't voice it as a question.

The other person stayed silent.

"Isn't your daughter proof enough, Jude?"

**I will let you down, I will make you hurt**

**If I could start again, A million miles away**

**I would keep myself**

**I would find a way**

**~The Raven~**

**I like this chapter.**

**I really, really like this chapter.**

**Sorry if the ending confuses anyone, that wasn't my intention.**

**I'm sorry that I suck at writing Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal.**

**The song at the beginning and end is **_**Hurt**_** by Johnny Cash**

**I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, tell me what you guys think.**

**Fun fact: While writing that heartfelt scene between Lucy and Natsu the song **_**Sex on Fire**_** by Kings of Leon somehow managed to become stuck on replay.**

**So for the hour it took to write that scene that's all that would play.**

**Love & Always,**

**~Rivendell**


	5. Little Talks

**The Raven**

**Chapter Five: Little Talks**

Jude Heartfilia laughed at Igneel in response.

He laughed… as if this whole conversation was only causing inconvenience to him, or if it was nothing but a big joke in his eyes.

If he thought it was a joke Igneel might just have to kill him.

But then he smirked, a cold, twisted thing that spread across his mouth, never quite reaching his eyes, "You know as well as I do how the law works, Igneel, probably better than I do actually," Jude nearly spat at him, his sick smirk still held firmly in place, "You cannot do anything unless she actually says something to you or you see me do something to her." Jude's challenge was clearly being placed on the table. He _wanted_ Igneel to try something. To do something. To fight back…

Igneel swore under his breath, not wanting to take the bait, but knowing he had to, "I'll ask Lucy-." He started.

"You won't," Jude cut him off harshly and Igneel knew that he had fallen into whatever trap the other man had laid out for him.

By now Igneel was seething, he wanted nothing more than to jump across the table and strangle the man who was at one time his friend, "Why the fuck wouldn't I?"

"You won't say anything," Jude's dark eyes bore into his own, "Because who knows what will happen if you do?"

Igneel growled, "What are you saying?" His hand moved to the gun at his side, "What are you planning to do?"

Jude ignored his questions, "This is only a game Igneel," A sick smirk spread across his face.

In the next second Igneel had his gun pressed up against Jude's forehead, "A _game_?" He hissed, "You call beating your daughter a game?" He laughed hysterically, "You sick bastard."

"You won't shoot me."

Igneel let out a bitter chuckle, "You underestimate me."

"You will be charged with murder."

Igneel knew he was right. There was nothing he could do, not right now. Not until he had several solid pieces of evidence.

After several long moments Igneel finally lowered his gun, albeit rather reluctantly, "Fine," Igneel swallowed, "Fine."

Jude stood up from his spot at the table, "All of the cards are in your hand Igneel," Jude brushed past him, "You just need to figure out how you're going to play them."

Igneel swallowed thickly, "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what, Igneel?"

Igneel turned, his spiky red hair falling against his face, "Everything." He clenched his fists, "Why are you doing all of this? Why do you hurt her? Why are you telling me this? And what do you mean _game_?" At this point Igneel wasn't sure what he wanted to do.

"All in due time Igneel. All in due time," He placed a hand on the doorknob in front of him, "Besides… you don't have time to worry about me right now," He turned around slightly, still gripping the doorknob, his eyes sparkling with mirth and excitement and Igneel wanted nothing more than to tear the smug look off of his face, "You have a killer to catch."

Igneel snorted, "Don't tell me," he hissed, "That's you too?"

Jude laughed, "Not quite."

The door slamming shut was the only thing to be heard throughout the house.

Everything else was quiet. Way too quiet for his taste.

Wendy was, probably, asleep, Grandine was working and Natsu…

Igneel slapped a hand against the front of his face.

Where the _fuck_ was Natsu?

**~The Raven~**

Lucy smiled at Natsu's words, "I know you will," Her smile grew, "You always do."

She could tell that Natsu was going to protest by the way his body tensed up, his arms stiffening around her, "I don't-." He started to pull away from her.

Lucy cut him off, "You do." She swallowed, pulling away from him just enough to meet his eyes, "Natsu, you do." She reached up, cupping his face in her hands. "You may not know it, but in a way you do." She took a deep breath, "You always have."

She felt and saw Natsu relax once again, which, she supposed, was a good thing. Hopefully he wouldn't just start slamming his fists into walls again because he was angry with himself. That wasn't smart nor was it particularly safe. Punching walls was kind of like Natsu. Unsafe. Actually… punching rocks was probably _safer_ than being around Natsu. He was a magnet for trouble, a big magnet, and, somehow, he always managed to drag her down with him in the end, not that she really minded.

Unless it was a fight, of course. If it was a fight he would be hell bent on getting her _out_ of the vicinity.

But that's just how he was. He was sweet, in an idiotic sort of way.

And she wouldn't change him for the world.

"So…" Natsu's voice brought her back to the present, "Are you going to tell me about it?"

Lucy pulled away from Natsu to hold him at arms length. She didn't like what she saw when she did.

He looked horrified, like someone who knew that they had just stepped way out of line. He thought she was mad at him for asking her to talk.

This boy- man- man child- thing would be the death of her, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

She held his gaze with her own, light brown meeting and almost black, "What do you want to know?"

Natsu's eyes sparked with something she didn't recognize, "Everything." Everything was a long story.

"Okay," Lucy swallowed, taking a deep breath, "Where should I start?"

Natsu gave her a heartbreakingly small, but full of happiness, smile, "How about the beginning?" The beginning… the beginning was easy. It was the ending that was the hard part.

"You want the short version or the long version?" She asked him, hoping he wouldn't ask for the long version. It would take up too much time and she really didn't want to go down that road.

Not right now.

Not ever, really.

Natsu seemed to understand what she was feeling because he quietly brought both of them to their feet in one fluid movement, "What do you want to tell me?"

She met his eyes again, "Not as much as you want me to I'm afraid." She admitted.

He took her hand in his own, his thumb drawing nonsensical shapes on the back of her hand, "That's okay." He murmured back to her, his gaze not leaving her own.

Lucy swallows thickly, "Alright," She tightened her grip on his hand, giving it a slight tug as they started to walk forward "The beginning." Genesis. They walked in silence for a while before she started to speak again. "As you know my mom died when I was seven." She lost herself in thought for a moment, thinking back to when everything was still okay.

Natsu stopped walking and when she glanced at him his eyes were hard, "Don't you dare tell me that's when this started." His voice was nothing more than a venomous hiss.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Of course not. He's not that big of an asshole."

Natsu snorted, his gaze now burning into the ground beneath them, "I beg to differ, love." His voice was light, but full of acid. Lucy turned so she was standing in front of him and placed a hand, the one that wasn't currently attached to his, on his shoulder, giving the joint a soft squeeze. "Sorry. Continue."

Lucy smiled softly up at him, "There isn't much to say. He started to become distant after she died and then we moved here when I was twelve, but you already knew that. The 'hitting' part started around that time, I can't exactly remember when, maybe four or five months after that."

Natsu turned to her, confusion etched across his face, that couldn't have just been the end of her story. It wasn't possible for that to be the end, "And then what?" He whispered to her.

Lucy smiled beautifully up at him, "Then I met you," She swallowed and fidgeted slightly, but didn't tear her gaze from his, "And thing's started to get better." Her hand tightened around his.

If it was possible for Natsu to become anymore confused than he already was, it happened, "What do you mean?"

Lucy sucked in a breath, not looking at him, "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to just… give up. To leave or… I don't know, just quit. Then I think of you," She met his eyes before smiling again, but it was different this time, wider and more full of life, "And I remember that I'm not allowed to stop living. I'm not allowed to die" Natsu nearly froze, but her hand in his brought him back to life, "Not while I have a reason to live."

"Lucy…" Natsu wasn't sure what to say to the girl in front of him. He had never been good with words, preferring to deal with a conflict by beating the shit out of it, and what he had learned today was a lot to take in.

Her smile didn't falter though, "Its okay, Natsu. You don't have to say anything." She promised him. "You don't have to say anything." She repeated.

Where words failed him, actions did not.

In the next second Natsu, once again, had the small blonde wrapped up in his embrace.

And he was never letting go, not again.

**~The Raven~**

"So…" Jellal started after a long bout of silence that unnerved him to know end, "How did you meet Lucy?"

Gajeel shot him a look, "The fuck is with you and all these questions?"

Jellal threw up his hands in a placating gesture, "I just thought we could get to know each other a little bit."

The taller man glared at him, "What the hell do you think this is Fernandez? A date?"

Jellal blanched, "No! Now are you going to answer my question?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Don't want to."

"Oh come on!"

"No."

"Will you at least tell me why you call her 'Bunny Girl'?"

"No."

"Please!"

Gajeel sighed, "If I tell you will you stop bothering me?"

Jellal's mouth fell open. Gajeel was giving in? What was the world coming to? Before Jellal could lose his chance he quickly shut his mouth and answered the question, "Yes."

"Alright, fine," Gajeel blew out a puff of air, "I met Bunny Girl about two years ago, when we were fifteen... In detention, sort of."

_ Gajeel's fight with Kawazu and Yomazu was not going the way he had planned it._

_ Not in the slightest._

_ In fact he was losing, badly._

_ The two school bullies had gotten on his nerves for the last time, they were sitting around taunting a small blue haired girl until she started to cry, so he had decided to do something about it._

_ Unfortunately there were two of them and only one of him. Right now the two older boys were mercilessly beating him into the ground._

_ "Hey!" A voice called out from somewhere to his right. "Leave him alone!" Before Gajeel could figure out whom the voice belonged to the two boys were pushed away from him, a small blonde girl standing over him defensively._

_ Kawazu laughed, "Why don't you get out of the way little girl?"_

_ The girl- whoever she was- hissed at him, "Why don't you go fuck yourself?"_

_ From his place on the ground Gajeel managed to smirk around a mouthful of blood._

_ He liked this girl already._

_ Kawazu snarled in response, moving forward to intimidate the girl. It didn't work though, she held firm, even going so far as to shift herself into a fighting stance._

_ Yomazu grabbed his arm, "Stop. Let's just get out of here before a teacher shows up."_

_ As soon as they left the girl twisted around and dropped onto the ground next to him, "Are you okay, Gajeel?"_

_ He was dumbfounded, "You know my name?"_

_ The girl laughed slightly, "Of course I do." She said it as if it was obvious, as if it wasn't possible for her not to know his name. "Now… Are you okay?"_

_ Gajeel managed to push himself to his feet, the girl standing up as well, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks…" He trailed off not knowing her name._

_ She smiled at him, "Lucy." He nodded, "Thanks for defending Levy back there."_

_ He only nodded again in response as a teacher walked up to the two, "Redfox, Heartfilia. Detention."_

Jellal stopped walking. "You're telling me that you got Lucy detention?"

Gajeel glared at him, "I didn't force her to help me, stupid." His gaze softened, "That's just how she is. She doesn't care what happens to her as long as the people around her are alright."

Jellal nodded in agreement. That sounded exactly like the blonde. "But… Why do you call her 'Bunny Girl'?"

Gajeel only sighed and walked away from the blue haired boy, "Maybe another time."

**~The Raven~**

"Why do I have to be related to you?"

"Life works that way Gray. Deal with it."

"No seriously! Why are we related?"

"Because Mom gave birth to both of us."

"Lyon! Answer me sincerely!"

"Fine. Mom and Dad had sex," He shouted. That shut Gray up rather quickly, "There happy?"

"But Lyon-!"

"That's it!" And with that being said Lyon lunged at Gray knocking him to the ground. He had had it with his idiot younger brother. He had had it. "I'm going to kill you!"

"No!" Gray yelped as Lyon wrapped his hands around Gray's throat in a mock strangle hold, "Lyon stop! I need to live!"

Lyon scoffed, "And why," He drawled out the words, "Should I spare your pathetic life, dear brother?"

Gray swallowed, trying to think of a good excuse, "Mom and Dad will kill you."

Lyon laughed loudly, "No they won't." Gray made to protest, but Lyon cut him off, "They like me more than you."

Gray was flabbergasted, "No they don't!" Why would anyone like Lyon more than him? It was ridiculous!

The blond boy smirked, "Yes they do. They told me so."

Gray let out a fake cry of defeat, "Fine," He sniffled, "I give up. Just promise me one thing?"

Lyon nodded, "For you, anything."

Gray pretended to cough, "Tell Juvia..." He trailed off slightly, "Tell her I… Accidently killed her Goldfish."

"See this is why you two have no friends," Gray and Lyon were startled as the gruff voice spoke up from the dark hallway.

"Gajeel!" Gray shouted out in happiness upon seeing his friend, "How did you find us?"

The taller man snorted and rolled his eyes, "You aren't exactly quiet. And where the fuck is you clothes?"

Gray cursed before shoving Lyon away from him and darting back down the hallway the way they came from.

Lyon dusted himself off as he pushed himself to his feet, all the while staring at the spot his brother had disappeared. Gajeel had rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall when the dark haired boy had run off; Jellal wasn't much different, doing the same thing as Gajeel, sans the eye roll. They stood quietly for a moment before Jellal realized something, "Wait… So it was Gray that killed Juvia's fish?"

"Yup."

"He's dead."

"So dead."

"Dead man walking."

**~The Raven~**

"So what happens next?"

Lucy wasn't expecting that question so soon, especially not coming from someone like Natsu. Don't get her wrong, she loved her best friend, she really did, but he wasn't exactly the best at conversation, or thinking ahead, or human interaction, or just being smart in general. Natsu preferred to deal with problems using his fists. And strangely enough, his way of dealing with things actually worked more often than not.

She blinked up at him, coming to a stop, "What?"

Natsu stared at her, stopping as well, "What happens next? What are we going to do?" His gaze was relentlessly holding hers and it took everything in her to rip her eyes away from his.

"Do about what, Natsu?" Her voice came out more timidly than she would have liked it to be as she pushed past him.

Natsu's hand shot out in a flash, wrapping around her shoulder in a gentle, but firm hold. "Don't give me this bullshit Lucy." She didn't respond. "What are we going to do about your dad?"

Her reply was so sharp it cut through him like a knife, "Nothing."

Natsu's grip on her shoulder slackened and she took that time to wrench her arm away from him, continuing to walk forward. Natsu stayed frozen for several heartbeats before he slammed back into reality and lunged forward so that he was blocking Lucy's path. "What do you mean nothing?" His voice nearly broke, "He could kill you Lucy. Dammit he could kill you!"

Her gaze snapped up to meet his and there was a fire burning there that he had never seen before. "You," she hissed, "Don't need to worry about me, Natsu."

His gaze hardened, "Like hell I don't!" He let out a sound akin to that of a growl from somewhere low in his chest.

"That's right, you don't." Lucy's voice was borderline calm and that unnerved him to no end. "I've been dealing with this for the past five years, by myself." He flinched back at the acidic tone in her voice as if she had slapped him. "I don't need help."

Her voice quivered at the end and with a start Natsu realized she wasn't trying to convince him with her words.

Any fight that Natsu had in him at that moment was forgotten in a moment, "Lucy, come here." She looked up at him and he could see the unshed tears in her eyes, but she wouldn't cry. Not in front of him.

When she didn't make a move to come closer to him he raised his arms slightly, beckoning to her to move closer to him.

After a short pause of hesitation she complied and he pulled her against him again, he had lost track of how many times he had held her that day, and buried his face in her hair. "I'm not going to lie to you and say I know what you're going through," His voice was slightly muffled, "And I'm not going to tell you everything is going to be okay," He took a deep breath through his nose, catching her scent. "And I am definitely not going to abandon you. No matter him many times you push me away, I'm going to keep coming back, whether you want me to or not."

Natsu felt Lucy nod against him and he smiled as she tightened her grip around his waist. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head lightly, "Don't be." He hated fighting with this girl. He _hated_ it. "Just promise me something?" A low 'humming' sound was the only response he got from her. "Let me help you."

She tensed, but she didn't pull away from him, "No."

His mouth fell open, "What?" He was so sure she was going to say 'yes'. He was so _sure_.

She giggled softly, but that only confused him more. "I know you Natsu. Your idea of 'helping' normally ends with you punching someone."

He smiled. "So what? It gets the job done." They both laughed as they pulled away from each other.

"You two are so adorable it makes me want to shoot myself." Natsu shot a sour look at the audience that had joined him and Lucy.

Lucy herself merely rolled her eyes and turned around to face the other four teens. "Your face is so ugly it makes me want to cry."

Gray placed a hand over his heart in feigned hurt, "You wound me Lucy." He sniffled a little as an added special effect.

She shook her head, "Don't be such a baby, Gray."

Gray stuck his tongue out at her. "I am not acting like a baby."

Jellal suppressed a smirk, "Dude, you kind of are." The blue haired man suppressed a laugh as Gray shot him a dirty look.

"You shut your mouth, Fernandez!" He paused in thought, "Why the hell are you taking her side anyway?"

Jellal smiled, "She scares me more than you do."

Gajeel gaffed at him, "You're scared of Bunny Girl? She barely reaches up too your shoulders!"

The blonde glared at him in return, "See this is why Levy won't date you." She deadpanned.

"Really?" Gray quipped, shrugging slightly in an –I don't really care- sort of way, "I always thought it was because he was scary and mean."

Gajeel cracked his knuckles, "I'll show you how scary and mean I can be for talking about Levy and me."

Gray blanched, his mouth falling open in a mixture of horror and fear, "I never said anything about Levy! That was Lucy!"

The taller man snorted and took a step closer to Gray, "I'm not going to hit Bunny Girl." He spat.

"Damn right you aren't," Natsu mumbled under his breath, throwing an arm over Lucy's shoulders. She, in turn, silenced him with a light smack.

Gray swallowed as Gajeel moved closer to him, chuckling darkly, "You can run, Stripper, but you can't hide."

And boy did Gray run. In fact, none of them had ever seen him run that fast in his life.

**~The Raven~**

It was a little after midnight. It was dark and the streets were far too void of people for things to be considered normal. And it was raining- storming really- drops of water were falling down in angry sheets, soaking the two teens as they ran across the street in a desperate attempt to find a dry area despite the fact that there was none.

The two pressed up against the front door of the house they had run too, finding little shelter from the rain.

The female of the pair shot a look at her partner, "Natsu, you might just want to go home now before the rain gets any worse."

Natsu shook out his pink hair like a dog, soaking her in even more water, before replying, "I think you're right," He managed to shout over the booming thunder. "I'll see later today right, Lucy?"

She nodded in response, "Yeah, I work tonight though. Then again, you do know where to find me."

The smile he shot her way was soft, miniscule, but still enough to make her heart jerk in her chest, "That I do."

She smiled back at him before turning to unlock the door as he made his way down her driveway, heading in the direction of his own house. When he was halfway down said driveway he stopped and turned around, immensely happy to see her still standing there, "Hey, Lucy!"

She turned at the sound of his voice, "Yeah?" She managed to call out over the rain and thunder.

He swallowed thickly, trying to find a way to force the words out of his mouth. "What would you do if I-."

The thunder cut him off so she couldn't hear him and the rain was hitting her eyes and he was just too far away for her to read his lips, "What was that?"

He gave her the saddest smile she had ever seen, "Never mind!" And then he turned and ran away from her, going back to his own house next door, not bothering to glance back at her slightly concerned expression.

Natsu stopped running as soon as he reached his own front door; he unlocked it with a sigh, the click of the door unlocking not being heard over the booming thunder behind him.

He slammed the door shut behind him, glad that no one else was home at that time. He leaned back against the wall for a moment before sliding down to rest on the floor beneath him. He lightly tapped his head against the door, looking up at the ceiling, "What would you do if I kissed you?"

**~The Raven~**

"Oi! Blondie!" Lucy turned around to see her- equally blond- coworker standing behind her.

"What do you want Laxus?" 'And why the hell are you shouting?' she added as an after thought. Because, really, he was less than five feet away from her and he found the need to raise his voice to a volume louder than what was needed for a slow, quiet day at the bar.

Laxus shifted slightly on his feet, "Dragneel is here, he wants to talk to you." He whispered the words to her, like it was a secret only the two of them could know.

Her lips twitched into a smile, the guys she knew were so weird, "What," She laughed, "No 'Salamander' today?"

Laxus shook his head, his eyes narrowing, "Not Natsu. Igneel."

Lucy froze, "Igneel is here? Right now?"

This time Laxus nodded, "He's been here for nearly an hour," He shrugged, "I tried to stall him, told him you weren't here and that you didn't work today." Lucy shot him a disbelieving look. "I'm only in here because he threatened to arrest me."

"Are you serious?" She hissed.

He nodded, "Sorry," He gave her a small smile, "But you know I can't afford to go downtown anymore times."

She shook her head at him lightly, "Its okay Laxus, I'm not mad." She hugged him quickly, "Thanks for trying."

He ruffled her hair, "No problem." He cleared his throat, "You know if he causes you any trouble Bixlow, Freed, and I-."

"No." She pointed a finger at him. "You are not going to do anything that could land you in jail."

He laughed, "I was only kidding." He patted her back with enough force to make her stumble forward. "I'll see you later Blondie."

She rolled her eyes, "Bye, Lax."

He disappeared into the kitchen and she turned around to go find the father of her best friend. He should be easy enough to spot, his hair was bright red.

After a quick glance around the bar she spotted him sitting in a booth at the back of the bar and made her way over to him, "How can I help you tonight, Mr. Dragneel, would you like something to drink?"

Igneel's eyes, so much like Natsu's, cut straight through her. "I know you know exactly why I'm here Lucy." She looked away from him, shifting awkwardly on her feet. "And I know that's why that other guy lied to me."

Lucy's eyes snapped up to meet his, a look of fear spread across her face, "Please Igneel, don't blame him. He was just trying to look out for me and-."

He raised a hand in the air, cutting her off. "I'm not going to do anything to Mr. Dreyar." He promised. "I only said what I did to get you out here."

She swallowed, "Well I'm here now. What do you want Igneel?" She had to suppress the hiss in her voice.

He looked offended, "What's with that tone? You do know you're like a daughter to me right?"

Lucy scoffed, "You're also a cop."

Igneel laughed. "I'm off duty, I swear." His demeanor became serious, "Actually I'm here for personal business."

Her eyes narrowed, "And what does that have to do with me?"

His eyes met hers. "You father came to speak to me last night."

Lucy froze, "Did he now," She looked away from him. "And what did he say?" She asked.

Igneel didn't look away from her. "He told me something rather interesting about you." He watched as she tensed up ever further. "And I was wondering if you could elaborate for me."

She looked at him. "I don't know what you're talking about." She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.

"Lucy, don't lie to me," He whispered, cautious of the pairs of eyes on him. Even if he was a cop members of Fairy Tail did not like customers manhandling their waitresses. He watched as a man at the bar wearing what looked like a knight's helmet whispered something to a brunette woman that caused her to disappear into the room behind the bar, only to return a moment later with the man from earlier, Laxus. "I'm here as a friend. Not an officer."

She turned around to face him, "And anything I tell you right now will be off the record?" She questioned him.

He nodded. "I promise you, no one else will know about this."

She chewed the inside of her cheek for a long moment, looking at everything _but _him. "Okay." She nodded once, "Okay."

He gestured to the seat across from him and she sat down. "What do you want to know?" She asked.

He ignored the question, "Your father has been hitting you."

Lucy laughed, "If that's the only reason why you came here I'm afraid you're wasting your time." She leaned forward on her elbows, "Everyone already knows that, Igneel."

He crossed his arms, "Everyone?"

She grinned, "Well, maybe not Wendy, but everyone else? They had things figured out a long time ago."

"And why didn't you ever say anything to me?" He was practically pleading for an answer. Why didn't she say anything? This girl trusted him, right?

She shot him a heartbreaking look. "I was scared," She whispered, voice shaking as she spoke. A small laugh bubbled out of her throat, "I'm still scared."

"Don't be scared. I'm not going to let anything else happen to you."

She laughed again. "You sound exactly like your son." She looked at him, "But you know what?" She didn't wait for an answer. "You can't protect me. Natsu can't protect me either."

"And why is that?" He murmured.

She shrugged, "That's just the way things are."

"I want to help you, Lucy." He reached across the table to place a hand on her shoulder.

She pulled away from him, standing up from the table, "You can't help me Igneel." She deadpanned.

He stood up as well, "Why not?"

She laughed bitterly and turned around to face him, "Because if you do," She paused, "I'm going to die."

**~The Raven~**

**This chapter… I'm not even going to start on how much I hate it. It sucks. I might try to rewrite it later.**

**On another note- I'm so sorry I didn't update last week. This chapter was… ugh. That and Mother's Day.**

**I really hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, and if you didn't I really don't blame you.**

**Tell me what you think. Leave a review.**

**Ready to punch a wall,**

**~Rivendell**


	6. Waiting and Watching and Wanting

**The Raven**

**Chapter Six: Counting Crows pt. 1 Waiting and Watching and Wanting**

**Well I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow**.

**Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there, counting crows.**

**One for sorrow,**

**Two for joy.**

**Three for girls-**

**And four for boys.**

**Five, for silver;**

**Six, for gold.**

**Seven, for a secret never to be told.**

Counting crows was an asinine thing, a waste of time, relatively useless in a funny sort of way.

The worst part was that she was the one counting useless crows- counting down the days until she could leave piece of hell she called home, counting the hits that came her way only to blackout and find she had lost count, the bruises that marked her skin, staining her pale flesh purple and black, counting the times she would look at her friends and pray that they wouldn't get involved in her problems, but knowing that they would do anything to save her.

Counting crows was a worthless thing to do. Try as you might you would never be able to count all of the dark shadows that shoot across the sky in a flurry of feathers and angry cries and the smell of death and blood.

She was counting crows.

And she had finally lost count.

"What?" Igneel was looking at her with wide eyes full of horror and a hint of fear, "What do you mean you'll die?" Lucy could tell he was fighting back the urge to scream in frustration.

She stared at him sadly, a sigh escaping her lips, "If you or Natsu try to protect me you'll only end up hurt," She took a deep breath, a flash of pain and something else flitting across her face and disappearing before Igneel could recognize what it was, "And I won't be able to live with myself if one or both of you are hurt because of me. That's why I'm not pressing charges or asking you to arrest him." She tore her gaze from his for a moment before meeting his eyes again, "I'm not doing it for me. I'm doing it for you and everyone else I love."

He sucked in a shallow breath, this girl…"Lucy-." She cut him off with a shake of her head.

"I've lived with it for several years now Igneel. It doesn't make it right, but it makes it easier to live with, I'm use to it. I can live with it until graduation and then I'll be gone away from him and there won't be anything to worry about."

"Besides…" She turned and smiled at him, her previously cold persona having melted away several minutes earlier, "Don't you have a killer to catch?"

"I don't see how that's something to smile about," Igneel deadpanned, fighting back a smile of his own.

She shrugged in response, brown eyes glinting with mischief, "It gives you something other than me to worry about."

Igneel snorted, "That it does." The death total was now up to four. Two girls had been killed that very morning, doubling the amount of dead girls weighing on his mind. The newest two, a pair of sixteen year old girls from Clover Town visiting family in the area, had been given a rather vicious beating. One had had her head smashed in until the back of her skull caved in and all that was left was matter hair and blood. The second was a similar case, only her abdomen was where most of the damage was done.

Both were blonde, causing his anxiety to shoot to new levels.

The case was becoming the talk of the city, the serial killer even getting his own name.

The killer had been dubbed, due to the endless press coverage's of the cases, The Raven.

At every crime scene there was a single raven's feather left behind.

Igneel turned to the Blonde, "How much do you even know about the situation?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Not much. Just that those four girls have died and no one seems to know a thing about it." She grimaced, "How is it that no one hears or sees anything? You would think those girls would have died screaming."

She was right of course. The girls had been killed in plain sight and beaten slowly. Someone should have seen something. _Anything_.

"So, what have you found out about your killer?" She questioned him.

"Not much." The only things Igneel knew were that he only killed women, so far, and that somehow he had a collection of feathers.

She raised a brow, "Why is that? The dead don't lie."

Igneel scoffed lightly, "They don't talk much either," He grumbled, not looking at the girl sitting across from him.

Lucy snorted in contempt as she stood from her spot, gaining the attention of the red haired male across from her. Igneel met her eyes after a moment and she told him something he would never forget.

"The dead do speak. You just need to learn to listen."

And then she walked away from him. Not bothering to turn back and look at him, not that he was expecting her to, when she gave you a piece of advice or a hint to something she wouldn't look at you again until you figured it out.

Igneel rose to his feet and made a quick exit from the crowded bar that he ad entered nearly two hours earlier.

He was determined. He had something he needed to do. He had people he needed to protect. And he had a job to do.

He had a killer to catch.

**~The Raven~**

Lucy pushed her way through the crowd of people in the bar, making her way back to the kitchen where she had been hiding from Igneel earlier. She needed to calm down, the throng of people filling the bar was getting to her, the smell of alcohol and sweat overwhelming her senses and sending her mind into overdrive.

She needed to get out, she needed air. Air was good.

She was just about to shut the door behind her when a hand shot out and pushed it back open.

Lucy whipped around, eyes widening in fear, ready to run if need be.

It was Laxus.

She sighed, her heart hammering and threatening to rip its way out of her chest, "Dammit Laxus! You scared me!" She punctuated her words with a sharp smack to his shoulder that didn't faze him in the slightest and probably causing her more bodily harm than it did him.

He laughed lightly at her; actually it wasn't even a laugh, more like a deep rumble that vibrated in his chest and reverberated out of his mouth, ruffling her hair in an affectionate way before crossing his arms over his chest. "I can tell."

She made a show of rolled her eyes up at him, doing it in a way that was as obnoxious as she could possibly make the simple action. "Is there a specific reason you decided to give me a heart attack? Or did you just miss me?" She teased him, but she didn't tease him in a flirting way. He was like her older brother in a strange sense.

The tall blond laughed again before sobering up, "I just wanted to know what you and Mr. 'Go- get- the- girl- before- I- arrest- you' talked about." The look in his eyes was one of dislike, he did not appreciate being threatened the way he had been earlier that night.

Lucy crossed her arms, mirroring his pose, and leaned back against the counter behind her. "Not that it's any of your business," She started, "But for your information we talked about those girls that have been getting killed."

Laxus quirked a brow, "And why exactly would a cop come out here just to ask you about a series of murders that you aren't involved in?" His question was sharp, demanding an answer.

Lucy bit back an even sharper remark, instead letting her anger ebb away, leaving only weariness and a great fatigue, "I don't know Lax." She sighed in defeat, feeling hopelessness wash over her in a great wave, "Why do cops do anything?"

He raised a brow again, silently asking for her to give him any sort of answer, "You tell me."

She gave him a sardonic smirk that barely twitched past her lips before whispering, as if they were sharing a secret joke that only the two of them could know about, "To get answers."

His lips twitched up at the corners in what she supposed could have been a minute grin, "Did you have any?" He looked away from her, the thin smile slipping from his face. "Answers that is."

"No." She shook her head. "None of this is making any sense to me." She sighed, "I don't think what's happening is making sense to anyone."

Laxus nodded sharply and twisted around to leave the room only to pause just as he grasped the door knob. "You get off in twenty minutes, right?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes, confused as to why he was asking; didn't he already know her work schedule? "Yeah, why do you ask?"

He ignored her question and instead answered with one of his own, still not turning to look at her, "Salamander picking you up tonight?"

If it was possible for Lucy to be anymore confused than she was right then… "No. He and Gray are doing something with Gajeel and Jellel. Why does it matter?"

Laxus threw her a look over his shoulder, a hint of amusement sparking in his eyes, "Guess that means I'm walking you home." And then he was gone, leaving her alone in the room she had gone into to just… get away. What had she done to have people who cared for as much as they did?

**~The Raven~**

Watching…

Waiting and watching and wanting.

Badly lit lights and an even dimmer moon floating above, barely illuminating the dirty street the blonde girl walked down alone. She was so utterly alone in the night.

Didn't she know it wasn't safe for a girl to be walking alone in the night? Didn't she know it wasn't safe in the dark, quiet streets of Magnolia at night? Didn't she know there was a killer prowling the streets just waiting and watching and _wanting_ for girls like her to stroll down this narrow piece of hell and into the waiting and watching and _wanting_ arms of a man who would tear her to pieces?

Tear her heart straight out of her chest and feel it in his palm?

How long would it take for her heart to stop as he held it in his hand? Would it be beating fast in terror before stilling in his grasp as the blood stopped flowing? Or would the shock of the situation cause her heart to freeze in her chest before he could claim it?

Darkness…

Nothing but shadows, dark tendrils that spring out from the night and strangle the heart, leaving nothing, but a rotting corpse and blood behind. Blood… all dark and ruby red, the color of love and lust, passion and betrayal.

He would paint a beautiful red picture, full of passion, with her blood. Her body would be on the canvas that he painted of the road she walked on. He would paint his picture with the liquid life that flowed through her veins.

The pretty blonde in front of him would not be seeing daylight again, never again.

He was done waiting and watching and wanting.

In five long strides he had crossed the street, "It's not safe out here miss."

The woman spun around, fear in her eyes. She calmed down when she saw who he was, "You scared me, Officer. I thought you were…" She trailed off, her face coloring in embarrassment.

He smiled kindly at her, looking the picture of a kindred spirit, then the expression turned into one of malice, a sickening smirk crossing over his face. "You were right to be afraid." And he _lunged_.

A choked off scream and the flash of steel across the flesh of her throat were the only things to follow.

And he cut her heart out of her chest before it could stop beating, relishing in the warmth of the organ and the scarlet blood dripping down his hands that was so pretty, so, so _pretty_ and so _warm_.

And he painted a picture with her blood, drawing circles and swirls that danced across the ground in wicked curves and sharp twists. Drawing until the blood dried and there was no more for him to use.

No one would notice until morning. No one would notice until daylight brought the carcass and the blood and the picture into the view of the public.

And by then he would be gone, hidden away in the crowd of people that would never think him capable of something so twisted and so, _so_ beautiful.

In one smooth movement he shoved the now stilled heart into the pocket of his dark jacket. Letting the blood soak the fabric until it became an even darker color that slowly spread across the entire side of the cloth.

No one knew who had done these things; no one who had seen what he could actually do was still living. Only the dead saw. Only the dead…

But the dead couldn't talk and so his secret was safe. His secret was safe and his art would be seen by all those who dared to interfere with his work. But they wouldn't catch him. He was a ghost hiding amongst ghosts. No one would think twice if they saw him. No one would ever think it was him who had done this.

A pitch black feather drifted to the ground as he walked away from the bloody mess on the ground. It was shiny, almost greasy looking, but soft to the touch, there was dried blood on the quill that did not belong to the dead girl now left behind him.

No, the blood on the feather was the birds. Dried there after the creature was torn apart by a large white dog trying so hard to protect its friend, the girl that stood by its side.

The coppery scent of blood soaked the air, chocking of the senses in a cruel way. There was a metallic taste in his mouth where he had accidently bit his tongue during the thrill of the moment.

He needed to pay thanks to the girl that had given him a name, The Raven... He was death itself and those black as pitch feathers were his calling card.

He was the devil itself bathed in blood and sweat and more blood.

He needed to thank the girl.

But for now he would be content to wait and watch and want.

**~The Raven~**

It had been a long day and all Lucy wanted to do was sit down and finish the book she had started the day before.

Unfortunately fate, also known as Mirajane Strauss, had other plans for her.

"Natsu likes you; you do know that, right?" The off handed question was a far cry from sly. If Mira wanted to startle her and make her flush with embarrassment she would have to try harder than that. She would have to try way harder.

Lucy quirked a brow at the girl with white hair sitting across from her at the table, She dropped her book into her lap with a sigh, already knowing a long conversation was going to follow what she said not.

She blinked once, twice, "I know."

Mira and the other four girls sighed in disappointment, frustration, and, quite possibly, defeat. "No Lucy," Lisanna started, slowly, as if she was speaking to a child or a fool, "We mean he _likes you_ likes you." The white haired girl stared at her friend, hoping to what ever god was up there that she would understand exactly what that comment meant.

"I _know_." Lucy repeated, more forcefully this time and just as slowly as Lisanna had spoken. "And I like him too."

A chorus of 'what' and 'why are we just learning about this' filled the air. Mira and Lisanna were both sitting there stunned, gasping and wheezing like fish out of water, looking like animals, Erza's jaw had dropped and the red haired girl looked like she was going to tackle her in a hug, and Levy and Juvia were both smirking like the blue haired devils that they were.

Mira blinked, "Can you…?" She trailed off before swallowing thickly, "Can you repeat that?" Mira's big, blue eyes were wide in disbelief.

Lucy rolled her own eyes, "I know Natsu likes me and I like him too." Lucy knew this was a bad idea. By the next day all of the boys _except_ Natsu would know about this conversation. Then the people she worked with would know. And finally Natsu would figure things out and damn her to hell for telling Mira that she liked Natsu.

Although, Lucy mused to herself, did she really care if he found out? The answer to that was a 'yes' and she deflated slightly as she thought about why she wasn't going to tell him.

Erza was the first person to regain their bearings, "You're not kidding…"

Lucy snapped her gaze over to the scarlet haired teenager. "Of course not. Why would I joke about something like this?"

"You wouldn't." Levy whispered breathlessly, still trying to process exactly _what_ had happened.

"Why haven't you told him?" Lisanna was on the verge of jumping across the table between them and shaking the blonde.

Lucy looked away from the probing eyes of her friends. "It's not that easy." Lucy raised a hand in the air, palm facing Levy who was about to protest. "Please don't ask."

Erza stared at the ground. "Do you love him?"

Lucy didn't even bat an eyelash; she had always known Erza could see right through her, managing to find out everything she tried to hide, "If I say 'no'?" Lucy whispered.

"I'll ask if you're lying."

"And if I say 'yes'?"

"I'll ask 'why'."

Lucy looked away from Erza's gaze, "I love him, but… Natsu… he's Natsu." A smile flitted over her face. "He's violent and temperamental, but stupidly brave and loyal to a fault."

Erza's gaze softened, "He would never hurt you."

Lucy laughed lightly, "I know," Her smile fell, "He's not the one I'm worried about."

This time it was Juvia who broke into the conversation, "What do you mean, Lucy?"

The blonde in question sighed, "I'm not worried about Natsu hurting _me_. I'm worried about me being the one to hurt _him_."

Levy fought back a smirk, "No offense, Lu-Chan, but I don't think you could hurt Natsu."

Lucy shot her blue haired friend a withering glare, "You know that's not what I meant, Levy."

"What do you mean, Lucy?" Mira asked her softly.

Lucy shook her head, "I have nothing to give." She had told the girl everything about her situation at home earlier that day. They knew everything now. And she really did have nothing to give. She was a broken person that needed time to heal and until then she was not going to pursue a relationship with her closest friend.

"Lucy-." Lisanna started.

"Stop." The blonde's voice was firm and they knew better than to press her on the matter at hand. "This isn't like a romance novel. This isn't 'boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, and boy and girl get together'. The story goes on. Life goes on." She turned away, "And I have nothing to give, not yet." And she walked away.

Erza, always needing the last word, shouted after her, "What about your heart?"

Lucy stopped, and turned her head to face Erza. The wind blew her words away, but her lips were still easy enough to read.

"It's already his."

**~The Raven~**

"You're distracting me." She hissed at the pink haired boy lying down on the floor next to her who was currently playing with her hair, thus, effectively, keeping her from finishing her novel, something the girls had done barely a day earlier.

Natsu smirked up at her, dark eyes flashing with mirth as he continued twirling a strand of hair around his fingers, "Is that a bad thing?" He questioned, not bothering to stop what he was doing, going so far as to give the strand he held a soft tug.

Lucy sighed in exasperation. This was not what she had signed up for. This was supposed to be a quiet night watching Wendy while Grandine and Igneel went on some sort of a date. That would have been fine. What they forgot to mention was that Wendy was with a friend for the night, it was Saturday, and it was only going to be Natsu home. Meaning she was stuck alone in a house with Natsu until the two adults returned home.

How the hell was that a well thought out idea?

What grown person in their right mind leaves their teenage son or daughter alone in a room with a member of the opposite sex? Especially is said members of the opposite sex may or may not have something going on between the two of them.

Not that there was anything going on between her and Natsu…

Yeah, that was a huge lie. The attraction between the two was clearly there, it was just that neither of them had acted upon it yet, and, if everything worked out, neither of them would.

Knowing Natsu he would find some way to mess up her plan. Acting upon his feelings and thus destroying the barrier she had strategically placed up to keep him out of her heart.

That wasn't exactly an accurate statement. She had already told the girl that her heart belonged to him, and, in a sense it did. A part of her heart would always _be with him_ and he would always _be a part of her heart_.

Lucy shook her head, clearing her jumbled thoughts, and rolled her eyes at the boy next to her, "Remind me again why your parents asked me to spend the night here."

Natsu's face went blank, but he continued to twirl the hair in his hand, "They didn't."

Lucy sent him a dubious look, "What do you mean they didn't ask me to stay here? Your mom was the one who called me."

The boy swallowed and shifted in place, suddenly looking uncomfortable, "I asked her to call you."

Her eyes narrowed apprehensively, "And why exactly would you do that?"

Natsu's eyes met hers. "The more time you spend here, with me," His gaze didn't waver and his voice cleared of all uncertainty, "The less time you spend alone, with him."

Her eyes widened in shock, "Natsu…" She honestly had no idea what to say. This man… this man was going to be the death of her. How could someone be so clueless and yet…

His gaze was determined as he took her hand into his own; his calloused palm was warm and completely covered her smaller one. "I couldn't protect you before," He swallowed again and almost winced as he thought about what had been happening to her with out him being able to stop it, "But I'll be _damned_ if I let him hurt you again."

His grip on her hand started to loosen and then Natsu surprised her once again by tightening his grip once more and bringing her hand down to his lips, just barely grazing her knuckles with his lips, as if he was making sure that she was actually sitting there next to him.

Her grip on his hand tightened in return. "You're an idiot." She murmured gently. His expression was a mixture of distress and immense hurt, "But," She pressed her lips against the corner of his mouth, too close to his lips for the kiss to be one between two people that were nothing but friends, "You're my idiot." The last words that left her mouth were barely above a whisper, and, if she hadn't still been leaning down as close to him as she was, he never would have heard her. She leaned back to some extent as he blinked up at her for several long moments, completely stunned at what she had done. Then he pushed himself up onto his elbows and captured her lips with his in one fluid movement.

It was short and chaste and it was the best damn kiss he had ever had.

**~The Raven~**

**BAM! Chapter done!**

**I just stayed up all night writing this, I hope everyone enjoys! Any confusing things will be explained next chapter, probably. This would have been out Friday, but I reread the chapter, realized I didn't like how things were going and deleted everything!**

**Did all of you read chapter 333? So sad… Natsu was crying over Lucy's body… my feels…**

**Anyway I only have four days of school left as of now and that means I should be updating more often, possibly.**

**Rivendell out!**

**Love & Always,**

**~Rivendell**


	7. Once More, This Time with Feeling!

**The Raven**

**Chapter Seven: Counting Crows pt. 2 Once More, This Time with Feeling!**

**Rescue me**

**Is written on your bed**

**Home is where the bullet lands**

**As it travels through your head**

**And I believe**

**That all I need to set me free**

**Is for someone someday somewhere to murder me**

No tell tale heart had been left to find in his last kill. In fact it was still sitting next to the pretty brown eyes he had taken from the second girl. And this time he had taken her fingers.

He had cut them off one by one while she was still breathing. He liked the terror he had seen in her eyes.

The tape had done wonders at keeping her silent. No one had stirred at all, the night was quiet.

He was painting a beautiful red picture, full of passion, with the blood of the blonde woman he had killed not even two minutes earlier.

A strange thought came to his mind.

What would her blood taste like? Would it be bitter? Sweet? Would it taste like iron? Would it taste good, or bad?

Before he could rethink his plan he brought his bloody finger tips to his lips, his tongue flicking out and running along the digit.

He was in heaven.

Her blood was amazing.

It was sweet with a metallic after taste.

Surprising, but not in a bad way…

He wondered fleetingly if his prize would taste as sweet as this.

He nearly scoffed at his own though, of course she would taste just as sweet, if not sweeter.

He stood up and started to leave his picture. There was no sense in getting caught at this point in time. He had to find her.

He had been watching her. He knew how she moved, how she talked, how she interacted with the people closest to her.

He knew how she acted around the boy with pink hair. He knew how she acted and he didn't like it.

She was his and no one else's.

That man couldn't have her.

She belonged to him. Shebelonged to_ him_.

She had given him a name. She was the reason he killed. He killed for _her_.

He killed for her and now she owed him.

She owed him her blood, her life. She owed him every single part of her.

He was done waiting.

He would take her now.

He would take her and no one would find her.

And he would kill that man that never left her side. He would kill that man and he dance while covered in his blood.

That man with her would never see the light of day again once he had finished with him.

He quite enjoyed his play things.

Just not when they were being tainted by others

They were two birds of a feather, him and her.

They were just the same… Or, rather, they would be. They would be soon enough.

He wanted her. He wanted her now.

And he would have her.

The man in the dark coat was pulled out of his thoughts as he saw another man walking through the streets. He was prepared to ignore the other man when one word caught his attention.

It was her name.

This must have been the pink haired man.

It had to be him.

He stepped in front of the man, blocking his path, not registering the fact that the man had his hood pulled up over his head, hiding his hair from view.

The man was saying something to him, but he wasn't listening. All he saw was red. This was the man that was so close to his love. This was the man who thought it was okay to _touch_ his love.

This was the man that was going to die.

He caught the word 'blood' coming off of the man's lips. Blood was right. There would be so much blood.

He would love it.

Before the man could say anything else he pulled the gun out from under his coat and aimed it level with the boys head.

The boy shouted something and raised his hands in front of him in a placating gesture, but all he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears.

And then he lunged for the shorter man, slamming a fist into his jaw that sent him stumbling backwards.

He could hear his love crying out the man's name over the phone and that only angered him more.

All he could see was red.

It was the color of a rose in bloom. The color of the shirt he was wearing. It was the color of the blood that would be on the ground in the next two seconds.

He leveled the gun with the boy's head once more, a twisted smile spreading across his face.

The boy didn't even have time to cry out before the bullet struck home.

**~The Raven~**

This was not happening.

There was no way this could have been happening.

How could something like this happen? She had seen him only hours earlier and now… now he was here… and he was bleeding out. How on Earth did something like this happen?

Magnolia use to be such a quiet town, nothing bad had ever really happened.

And then she went for a walk in the middle of the night, her dog killed this crazy bird that had tried to claw at her throat, girls were being murdered by some psychotic freak, and now he was here in some god forsaken room with bleached out walls and white tiled floors.

Why were hospitals white?

Was it so people could see the startling difference between the cold ice of death and the blood of life?

Was it so people could see red?

She clenched her fists, her head bowed, eyes a mixture of horror, sadness, anger, and disgust.

Was he even going to live?

Probably not. A blow like that… who could survive that? Who the _fuck_ could survive that?

He wasn't Superman. He wasn't a fictional hero. He couldn't take every single hit and _live_.

You couldn't take that hit and live…

It wasn't possible.

And yet… it wasn't _impossible_.

He could live. It was a far cry, but it could still happen. He could have been breathing right now and she might not even know it.

She hoped he would live. She wouldn't be able to take it if he died; neither would some of the others. What would his family do?

Of all of the people in the world why did it have to be him? He had never done anything wrong.

He didn't sleep around with women, he didn't drink or smoke, he wasn't doing drugs, and he didn't kill people.

Was this how he was going to die?

Was he going to die alone in a washed out room with no way for anyone to say goodbye to him?

Why couldn't he just wake up?

She would give anything to see him smile at least one more time.

She would give up her own life right then and there if it meant he was going to stand up and walk out of this like a trooper.

A lone tear slipped down her face, "Come on. You have to live." She choked on a sob, "Who else is going to stop me from doing something stupid?"

She didn't receive an answer. Not that she was really expecting one. He was either cataleptic or dead so there would be no way for him to give her an answer.

Either way he wasn't going to give her an answer.

Lucy shook her head as everything from not even two hours earlier.

What if she had been there?

Could she have stopped it?

Would he even want her to stop it?

No.

_There were mere millimeters between them, barely enough space for them to be apart. They were practically glued together at the mouth._

_How the hell did that happen? She was not supposed to fall in love with her best friend. She was not supposed to get involved with said best friend. And- what was he doing?_

_Oh... Oh!_

_ She felt Natsu shift and smile against her jaw, his lips brushing against the corner of her mouth before sliding across her jaw line to the spot just below her ear leaving a trail of scorching fire in its wake. _

_A tingling sensation spread from her lips down the same path his mouth had taken just moments earlier. _

_ She shivered slightly, but it wasn't because she was cold._

_ She was on fire._

_ Not actually of course, but it sure as hell felt like the temperature in the room had spiked some hundred degrees._

_ It wasn't an uncomfortable heat though. _

_ It was like standing in the sun at daybreak. The air around you is still cold, but as soon as you step into the sun you can feel the heat seep into your skin._

_ So that's what kissing Natsu was like._

_ Sunshine…_

_She let out a small puff of air across his face turning a light shade of red at the look he was casting up at her. _

"_What was that," Her breaths hitched as he pressed a scorching kiss down on the skin just bellow her right ear, causing him to smirk at her reaction, "For?" She finished sounding breathy and barely there and she knew that he could tell that she was completely floored by what he had done just seconds ago and what he was still doing right then._

_ "What?" He moved his mouth away from her and pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes meeting hers with a gentle look, "Do I need a reason to kiss you now?"_

_ The look in his eyes clearly stated that he didn't care if he _did_ need a reason._

How was this possible? How could any of this be possible?

How did he deserve this? How could _anyone_ deserve this?

Lucy dropped her head into her hands, the tears finally spilling over onto the floor beneath her. This was never supposed to happen. Ever. She had to be dreaming.

This was all just some fucked up dream.

Her father had gotten pissed off again and had slammed her head into something one too many times.

Or maybe she had finally gone crazy. Maybe nothing had happened and she was actually sitting in a padded room quietly talking and laughing to herself.

But she wasn't laughing.

No. She was sitting in the waiting room of a fucking hospital waiting for some good news.

Or, really any news.

She hated hospitals.

She hated them so _God damn_ much!

They were all white light with nowhere to go.

There was just nowhere to go anymore.

And half the time, once you went in, you would never come back out, but he had to come back out. He wasn't someone who just gave up. He would get back up onto his own two feet and he would walk out of here with a smile on his face, because that's just how he was.

That's just how he was.

He had tried to help someone.

And he… he just- he was going to die.

He was going to _die_ and there wasn't a _God damn_ thing she could do to stop it.

Not one thing.

_She laughed lightly. "No," Her eyes sparked with humor, "But a little clarification would be nice."_

_ He had just kissed her; damn right she wanted some clarification._

_ Well, she already knew he liked her. She had known that for some time. It was the acting upon said feeling that had her feeling confused._

_ Because, come on, this was Natsu. He was denser than a box of rocks when it came to relationships and the concept of 'love._

_ How the hell did he even come to the conclusion that she liked him? Well… hopefully he knew she liked him, otherwise that might mean he just went around kissing random girls, a thought that didn't sit very well with her._

_ Than again, this was Natsu. He wasn't some asshole player that used women and then threw them away. He wouldn't do something like that._

_ And that kiss was… it was something… it wasn't forceful it was almost… timid, in a way._

_ "Alright." Natsu laughed as well, "For starters I've been hopelessly in love with you for nearly two years."_

_ He actually just said the 'L' word. _

_ He actually said it._

_ This had to be some sort of joke. Maybe it was 'Fuck with Lucy Day' and she just didn't know it._

_ Lucy rolled her eyes, "Now I know you're joking." She crossed her arms as she leaned away from his touch, something she really didn't want to do, but she needed answers, moving out of his reach, causing him to complain gently in protest. _

_ "Lucy!" Natsu tried to whine, but he was laughing too hard to make it come out as it should be, "I'm not joking!" He started to reach up for her, but she pulled back further from his range._

_ Her doubts stated to falter as she caught the look on his face. Under the looks of amusement and affection there was also a type of seriousness she only ever saw when he was in some sort of a fight. Something he was, quite obviously, not in right now. Unless he considered her pulling away from him some sort of a playful fight, if that was the case than this would be all the more fun._

_ "Oh yeah?" She challenged, moving to stand, smirking "Why don't you prove it?" _

Lucy let out a small cry of surprise as a mass of skin and blue hair ran into her chest, crying, and effectively drawing her out of her thoughts. Lucy didn't hesitate to return the hold, her own arms slinking around the quivering heap that was the girl in her grasp.

"Lucy- he- he!" The girl burst into loud sobs, drawing the attention of several other people in the waiting room and gaining some dirty looks.

Lucy shot a particularly nasty look at one man stood from his seat and took two steps forward, looking ready to spit on them.

The man stopped in his tracks as he caught Lucy's gaze. She was practically daring him to walk up to her and the crying girl.

After the man took a single step back away from them Lucy made a show of ripping her stare away from his before going back to the mess she was holding up.

Lucy shushed the weeping girl, "I know. I know." She swallowed thickly. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise... I promise" Oh God she was only giving out an empty promise. How could she promise the girl in her arms that he would live?

How could she promise this girl that he would be alright?

She couldn't that's what.

She had no right to make a promise that she might not be able to keep.

She had no right to bring this girl's hopes up only for them to come crashing back down around her later if something bad were to happen.

He could die.

He could actually die.

He might die and she had no right to tell this girl that he wouldn't.

She could only pray and hope that what ever god was up there would take pity on them and just _let him live._

Please, just let him live.

Just let him live.

He wasn't allowed to die yet.

Not yet.

_Natsu looked up at her, a huge smirk crossing his face, "Is that a challenge?" He moved to a standing position._

_ She really should say 'no'. _

_ Telling Natsu this was a challenge could be bad for her health._

_ Not he would hurt her physically, but by calling this a challenge they would probably end up wrestling on the floor or he would be tickling her and she wasn't sure what would happen if they had anymore physical contact in the next five minutes._

_ And so, against her better judgment, she responded in the way that her heart was begging her to._

_ "I don't know," She started, "What do you think?" She whispered, almost innocently, but she knew he could see right through the façade. She was staring up at him with wide eyes filled with mirth._

_ Everything was deadly quiet for several long, heartbreaking seconds and Lucy wasn't sure if she had pushed things too far or not._

_ "I think," He let the words seep from his tongue in an agonizingly slow way, like he was trying to make her uncomfortable in some way. He took a single step towards her, "That I'm going to get you!" Then he lunged for her. _

_ The blonde let out a shriek of surprise as the salmon haired boy flung himself towards her, missing her by an inch as she dodged to one side._

_ Lucy could only laugh as Natsu got back on his feet, looking determined to catch her the next time. _

"_You're doing a pretty poor job of proving me wrong right now." She teased, secretly hoping that he _would_ catch her._

_ "Oh Yeah?" He raised a brow, an incredibly alluring look flashing across his face and sending shivers down her spine in a strangely pleasant way that she wasn't use to._

_ He grinned at her, showing off his elongated canines and, ever so slowly, ran the tip of his tongue across them._

_ Lucy sincerely hoped that she wasn't turning the color of Erza's hair at that small action._

_ What he said next though definitely had her turning several shades of red._

"_Let me fix that." _

"Don't say that!" The girl cried out, distress evident in her voice. "Don't make me a promise you can't keep, Lucy." She sobbed, letting the tears poor down and down until she was practically drowning in the salty liquid.

And then, "Maybe if I had just stayed home tonight, if I hadn't have-."

Lucy shook her head softly, "This is not your fault." She cooed, somehow managing to keep her voice from trembling while consoling the other hysterical girl. "This isn't my fault. God knows this isn't _his_ fault. The only person in the wrong is the one who did this."

The girl broke into a fresh round of tears, heart breaking cries spilling from her lips.

Lucy didn't have it in her to stop the poor girl.

She had been acting the same way moments before she had shown up.

Now it was her turn to be the strong one. It was her turn to be the one that others needed to lean on.

What had happened to her before didn't matter anymore.

She was fine.

And now it was his turn to be fine.

It was his turn to get back on his feet and walk it off.

In the end the only steps that matter are the ones you take all by yourself.

It doesn't matter how hard you hit.

It only matters how hard you _get hit_ and still stay standing.

He wasn't standing right now, but he would be. He would be back on his feet and he would be laughing this off as if it was nothing.

He had to get up.

He _had_ to.

Lucy sighed and tightened her grip on the girl just a little bit more. She could only sit and wait and pray and let the blunette cleave to her.

_Before she could react Natsu had already flung himself at her a second time, successfully knocking the wind out of her lungs and slamming both of them to the floor._

"_Jesus, Natsu," She wheezed, "I asked you to prove you liked me, not try and kill me." She coughed slightly as she tried to regain her breath. _

_The boy, now resting on his hands and knees above her so that he wouldn't accidently crush her underneath him, laughed and sent her a look of mock apology. "Sorry, Lu." And then he kissed her again, harder and more full of fervor this time._

_He was kissing her once more, this time with feeling._

_It was a hell of a lot of feeling that was for sure._

_It was hot too. She felt like she was on fire._

_He had himself braced above her with one forearm pressed to the floor next to her head, the other was pressed palm down by her rib cage, his legs were in a tangled heap with her own, and before she could stop herself she had already wrapped her arms around his neck. One hand threaded in his hair and then her brain started to short-circuit so she couldn't remember where the second hand was. _

_Fuck, where the hell was her other hand?_

_What was she doing? Hadn't she just told Erza and the other girls earlier that day that she was not going to date this man?_

_Granted they technically weren't dating and he had kissed her first. Then again she hadn't exactly told him 'no', nor did she want to, and he had only kissed her because she had made the first move, but, really, this whole thing was his entire fault._

_If he hadn't have been playing with her hair she never would have kissed his cheek, well it was more like the corner of his mouth, and she had been hoping for a reaction like this, but that wasn't the point!_

_The point was that the two of them should not have been doing what they currently were doing. This was wrong on so many levels and… and…_

_Who was she kidding?_

_She wanted this to happen more than anything and she couldn't have been happier than she was right at that moment._

_He was taking her breath away, or, maybe she was just losing oxygen from all of the kissing. _

_Yeah, that was probably it._

_Her brain lost all train of thought as Natsu moved his hand, the one that had been pressed against the ground by her side, and lightly trailed his finger tips across her stomach. She could feel the heat from his hand seeping through the thin fabric of her shirt and she nearly gasped in shock as his fingers slid over the bare stretch of skin on her side where said shirt had ridden up slightly when he pushed her onto the ground._

_Oh, God, what was going on? Wandering hands! She had to stop this before one thing would lead to another and BAM! _Sex_…_

_Lucy nearly laughed. Natsu would not be getting lucky that night or any other night in the near future._

_She felt Natsu brush his tongue against hers. Well there goes another brain cell and when the hell had his tongue gotten there?_

_Not that she really minded._

_In the next moment she had fisted her hand in his hair, an action that only seemed to egg him on further. _

_Suddenly he was kissing her with even more vigor that he had been only a second earlier. _

_His mouth was slanting over hears in a way that only pushed them closer to each other._

_She hadn't realized it right away, but at some point during there… heated conversation- because it was a conversation… they were just… speaking through their lips- he had dropped some of his weight onto her, trapping her against the floor even more than she already had been. _

_The hand on her side had gone from tracing her side to gripping it tightly._

_And then she was the one pulling him closer to her. She had found her second hand and she used it to reach between them and pull him down closer to her by his shirt before winding it back around his neck._

_She was getting dizzy, the lack of oxygen was getting to her and she could finally hear her lungs screaming at her to get air._

_And then he was pulling back and she could breathe again._

_She opened her eyes; not really remembering when they had slipped shut, and met his eyes just as he was opening them._

_There gazes locked and she didn't even bother to feel embarrassed. Everything that had just happened had felt so right. So damn right._

_His nose bumped into hers playfully and she could see the smile in his dark eyes. She let her fingers sift through his hair as his drew nonsensical patterns across her side._

"_Well," She breathed the word out against his lips, chest heaving, "It looks like you proved me wrong."_

_He laughed deeply in his chest causing the noise to reverberate from him down into her through both the hand pressed to her side and the arms she, still, had wrapped around the base of his neck._

"_Imagine that," He laughed again, eyes glinting with mischief, "I'll prove you wrong any time you want." _

_She smacked him lightly on the shoulder, laughing as well, "Natsu!" She tried to scold him, "Don't say it like that, you pervert!"_

"_Well fine," He teased her, "No more kisses for you."_

"_Oh please," She scoffed, still staring up at him, "You were the one that was all over me just now."_

_Natsu shot her what was meant to be a glare, but his eyes were bright and she could see the smile threatening to break out over his face, "I was not!"_

"_Mmhmm." She started to push her fingers through his hair once more, marveling at the feel of it. His hair was so much softer than she had expected. She kept her gaze locked with his. "Keep telling yourself that." She removed one arm from around him to pat him on the cheek in a joking way._

_She smiled, "I mean," She placed a hand on his chest, debating whether or not she should pushing him off of her slightly, in the end she decided to just leave her hand there; "You are the one currently pinning me to the floor."_

_He smirked, "True. I'm surprised you let me do this."_

_She rolled her eyes, "I didn't let you do this. You just decided it would be fun to push me onto the ground and not let me up-."_

"_-You make me sound like I'm some sort of an abuser or something-."_

"_-And even if I had said 'no' you still could have pinned me to the floor," She finished as if he hadn't said anything._

_Natsu hummed in agreement before leaning down to rest his forehead against hers, giving her an incredibly soft look, "I could pin you down, but if you didn't want me to I wouldn't."_

_She smiled, "I know." He would never do something to her that she didn't want him to._

_He leaned down, probably to kiss her again._

_Then the phone rang, shattering the moment._

_Natsu groaned and swore under his breath before moving himself off of her and she couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to murder the phone, or, quite possibly, the person calling. She managed to push herself to her feet, giving Natsu a ghost of a kiss on her way to a standing position._

_ In the next second she had the phone in her hand, "Hello?"_

_ "Lucy?" A familiar voice sounded through the phone. He was confused, probably wondering why she had answered the phone._

_ "What's up, Gray?" Natsu stood at the mention of his friend's name, moving to stand behind Lucy and wrap his arms around her._

_ "Not too much. Umm, is there a reason you're at Natsu's house?" Gray's question was a mixture of discomfiture and bewilderment._

_ "I'm babysitting." Let's see what Gray had to say to that._

_ "I thought Wendy was staying the night at a friend's house."_

_ Lucy's lips pulled up in a smile. "Oh, she is."_

_ Gray was silent for a long moment, "Does that mean that you're-?"_

_ "Yup." _

_It took Gray several minutes to stop laughing after that. "That is too good. So how has that been going? You two haven't been doing anything naughty have you?" _

_At that Lucy did color in embarrassment. Gray had only said it to tease her, but he had no idea how close to the truth he actually was. "No. We haven't."_

_He laughed, "Uh-huh, sure. I bet you two were all over each other just before I called." How the hell did he know that? How the _hell_ did he _know_?_

_Lucy was just about to voice her question before she realized she couldn't. Gray would ask when they had started dating and she couldn't answer that because technically they weren't._

"_Whoa, dude are you alright?" Lucy was confused until she realized Gray wasn't talking to her._

"_Gray?" She glanced at Natsu out of the corner of her eye; he gave her a questioning look back. "Gray, what's wrong?"_

_Gray murmured a 'hold on' into the phone, "Dude, you're covered in blood, what happened?"_

_She couldn't hear what the other person was saying, if they were saying anything in the first place, "Gray be careful!"_

"_Fuck!" He cursed, "Dude, what the hell is your problem? Put that down!"_

_There was the sound of a struggle and someone thrashing around and she still had no idea what was happening, but she was even more worried than she was two seconds ago._

"_Gray!?" She must have been sounding hysterical right then, but she didn't care. She didn't care because something was happening to one of her best friends, "Gray what's wrong? What does he have?"_

_The sound of a gun going off at close range was her only answer._

**And I want to be embraced by you**

**And see our violent paths collide**

**I want to crawl in your autumn mouth and **

**Feel the crows pick me apart inside**

**And everything that they said is true**

**I'm on a downward spiral towards you**

**And I'll fight through the positive steps as**

**I hurtle towards my final descent**

**~The Raven~**

**That's the end of chapter seven. I hope you guys liked it! Did I throw off with the beginning and end? Huh? Did I?**

**I'm thinking of changing this story to an M rating… What do you guys think? Things are going to be getting darker from here on out.**

**I just realized nearly a quarter of this chapter is made up of Lucy and Natsu making out on the floor -.-**

**Chapter 334 guys… Chapter 334… That head shot…**


	8. No Tell Tale Heart Was Left To Find

**The Raven**

**Chapter Eight: No Tell Tale Heart Was Left To Find**

"_Gray?" She glanced at Natsu out of the corner of her eye; he gave her a questioning look back. "Gray, what's wrong?"_

_Gray murmured a 'hold on' into the phone, "Dude, you're covered in blood, what happened?"_

_She couldn't hear what the other person was saying, if they were saying anything in the first place, "Gray be careful!"_

"_Fuck!" He cursed, "Dude, what the hell is your problem? Put that down!"_

_There was the sound of a struggle and someone thrashing around and she still had no idea what was happening, but she was even more worried than she was two seconds ago._

"_Gray!?" She must have been sounding hysterical right then, but she didn't care. She didn't care because something was happening to one of her best friends, "Gray what's wrong? What does he have?"_

_The sound of a gun going off at close range was her only answer._

_She dropped the phone._

"_Lucy?" Natsu's grip around her tightened, "Lucy, what happened?"_

_With shaky hands she disentangled herself from Natsu's arms, crouching down she reached for the fallen telephone. "Gray?"_

_All was quiet for a moment and then she could hear police sirens in the distance, people were going to help._

_And then-, "He had to die."_

_She felt her heart stop in her chest, the erratic beating jerking to a halt, "What?" The word nearly caught itself in her throat, choking her._

"_He had to die, because-."_

**~The Raven~**

Lucy wasn't sure how long she had just sat there holding Juvia.

It could have been hours, days, months, even years.

It didn't matter though.

She would hold on to the crying girl in her arms until Gray woke up. She would hold on until the end of forever.

She would hold on until death took them both.

After several more moments Lucy realized both she and Juvia had somehow slipped down onto the ground.

She also realized that Juvia had fallen asleep.

_"He had to die."_

She winced at the words that just kept ringing in her head. Gray's phone had hung up right after the man, whoever he was, stopped talking. She had bluntly refused to tell Natsu what had happened after she dropped the phone, only saying that Gray was hurt and they needed to get to the hospital as fast as they could.

"Hey." Lucy's head snapped up and she nearly flinched at the sound of someone's voice before realizing that it was Natsu's. She gave him an almost questioning look, not knowing where he had been for the past hour or so. "I called Ur," he whispered. He cleared his throat as he slid to the ground next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him.

"What did she say?" Lucy managed to choke out, leaning against him ever so slightly.

Natsu sighed, "She, Lyon, and Ultear are nearly three hours away," he murmured, his grip on her tightening as he pressed his face into her hair, "They went on some trip. Gray decided to stay home." Lucy nearly winced at the situation, if Gray had gone with his family none of this would have happened. "Ur told me to keep her updated."

Lucy made a small sound of agreement in the back of her throat, afraid that if she opened her mouth she would start crying again.

"So, how's Juvia?" Natsu question was innocent enough, but all she wanted to do was sit there. She didn't want to talk. She also knew that Natsu just wanted to help her keep her mind off of the situation.

Lucy sighed, holding her bluenette friend closer to her, "She's asleep. She ran up to me crying right after you disappeared and didn't stop until about five minutes ago." Her eyes softened, becoming sad, "I don't know what she might do if Gray-." She cut herself of by sucking in a sharp breath.

Natsu pulled his face away from her hair and cupped her face, turning her towards him and wrapped both of his arms around her tightly. "Gray is going to be fine."

She let out a dried up, bitter laugh. "And how can you know that, Natsu?" She whispered, eyes looking intently into his, "Gray could very well die tonight." She stared up into his eyes, daring him to challenge her.

"I can feel it," he whispered, placing a light kiss on her temple and letting his lips linger there. "Gray isn't going to die." He took a deep breath. "I can feel it."

The tears started to fall. "He was shot in the head, Natsu. You can't just get up and walk that off." She was shaking. "You can't walk that off."

"Shh," He whispered into her hair. "This is Gray. He'll live."

Lucy sighed heavily, the weight of the day and the situation pushing down on her. "For Juvia's sake I hope you're right."

_"He had to die." _

Lucy flinched unintentionally, causing Natsu to look down at her in concern. "What's wrong, Lu? Something bothering you?"

She winced internally, this was bad. She didn't want to talk about this with him, but he would be able to see through any lie she tried to use on him. Maybe if she played him for a fool he would leave it alone. "Oh, no, nothing's bothering me Natsu." She shot him a look. "You know I'm just sitting in a hospital waiting to see if one of my best friends is going to die or not." She nearly spat the words at him and she hated herself for that.

"Bullshit. This is something different," he murmured.

"No, it's not." She spoke harshly, but even she could detect the slight quake in her words that showed she was being dishonest.

"Is this about the phone call with Gray?"

"No!" She nearly shouted the word at him, cursing herself for speaking to fast.

"Lucy!" He shook her softly and forced her to look at him. There was a trace of anger in his gaze. "If this is about Gray then I have a right to know."

She looked away from him, refusing to meet his eyes.

He sighed, "Lucy I'm sorry, I just-."

"Someone else picked up the phone."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she turned back to face him, "Whoever shot Gray talked to me."

He sucked in a shallow breath, "You're kidding," he whispered.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" She was on the verge of tears.

He pulled her against him so that her face was buried in his chest, "What did they say." Her hand fisted in the jacket he was wearing.

"He said that Gray had to die, because..." She paused, not wanting to continue.

"Because what Lucy?" He murmured against the shell of her ear.

"Because I belong to him."

**~The Raven~**

"You're trying to tell me that Gray Fullbuster, my son's sort of best friend, was shot here," Igneel asked in disbelief, "In the head?"

"Umm, yes?" The younger man answered him with a statement that sounded more like a question than anything else.

Igneel sighed, this was ridiculous, "Then tell me, Max was it?" The sandy haired man, Max, nodded. "Where's the blood?"

Max tilted his head in confusion, "What?"

Igneel nearly slammed a hand against his face, "Where's the blood, Max? If he was shot through the head there should be blood everywhere. There should be blood," he explained.

"I don't know," Max nearly stuttered as he spoke, "Maybe someone already cleaned it up?" Igneel shot him a look. "Or… maybe not," he whispered.

Igneel was about to respond to the younger man when a third person spoke up from behind him. "Leave the poor kid alone, Igneel." Said man turned around only to catch sight of an old friend of his and partner.

"Macao," Igneel nodded at the other man. "Zancrow," he nodded at the second man that had walked up, "You here to help out with this?"

"Hardly," Zancrow snorted, a dark expression on his face, "This is about your big case," he snarled. Zancrow had not been happy about the "big case" being handed over to Igneel, do to the fact that the younger man wanted a chance to shine as well.

Igneel's eyes narrowed, "The creep everyone is calling 'The Raven'?"

"Yup," Macao nodded, "We've got a real 'Poe' on our hands here." At Igneel's questioning look he continued. "The ME- Coroner-," he shot at Max and Zancrow, "Just got back to us." He swallowed, a disgusted look spreading across his face. "_The Tell-Tale Heart_ and _The Black Cat_."

Igneel shuffled slightly, "What does that mean, Macao?"

"The murder from last night…" He paused for a moment, "The girl's heart was missing."

"You're telling me," Igneel seethed, hands clenching at his sides until the knuckles turned white, "That he took her heart?"

Macao nodded, "That's what Gildarts said. Throat was cut and the heart was ripped out clean," his lips pulled back in a snarl, "He actually cut out her heart."

The red haired man snorted, head shaking, "No tell-tale heart was left to find."

The two men stood in silence for several moments before a timid voice spoke up. "What about the 'Black Cat'?"

"Excuse me?" Igneel glanced at Max, noticing Zancrow shoot the other rookie a look as well.

"You," he pointed at Macao, "Said something about a black cat."

"Not 'a' black cat," Macao hissed, "_The Black Cat_. Poe wrote a poem called _The Black Cat_ where the main character kills his cat for no real reason at all, only saying something about the cat's eyes."

"Meaning what exactly?" Igneel asked him.

"You remember the second dead girl?"

Igneel's eyes narrowed in thought, "Yeah, her eyes were…" His eyes snapped up to meet Macao's. "Is this a coincidence?"

A new voice spoke up. "There are no coincidences in death." The four turned around to see a brunette walking towards them. "Although this might just be random."

"What do you mean Gildarts?" Igneel questioned.

"We found another body about four hundred yards from here, the fingers were missing," he raised a hand in the air and wiggled said appendages. "There are no Edgar Allen Poe poems that have to do with missing fingers, or, really, anything to do with fingers." He shrugged, "He might just be taking random body parts."

"Anything else Gildarts?" Macao asked the Medical Examiner.

He nodded solemnly, "One thing." He let out a deep breath. "All of the dead girls are blonde with brown eyes." He tossed a glance at Igneel, "Natsu's girlfriend is a blonde isn't she?"

Igneel nodded, "Her eyes are brown too." Zancrow snorted again and said something that sounded like "my type of woman", but Igneel couldn't be sure, so he ignored it.

Gildarts spat on the ground, "Keep a close watch on her, eh?"

Igneel nodded again. There are no coincidences in death, huh? That could only spell out trouble. He squeezed his eyes shut and decided not to dwell on the thought.

"What have you heard about Gray?"

**~The Raven~**

Natsu stiffened against her for a moment before he pulled her into an unbreakable hold, refusing to let her go. There was no way something like this could be happening.

There was no way.

He ran his tongue over his teeth for a brief moment before leaning down to rest his head against hers.

He didn't know what to say.

"Are you two here for Mr. Fullbuster?"

Both Lucy and Natsu snapped to attention at the question, glancing up at the older woman looking down at them. Juvia was still asleep.

Natsu still wasn't able to find his voice, but Lucy had hers.

"That's right," she said, voice cracking. "How is he?"

The nurse smiled down at them. "He's fine. He's awake now if you want to see him."

"Yeah! Yeah, we want to see him!" Natsu jumped to his feet, pulling Lucy up with him and nearly tumbled to the ground because he had forgotten that Lucy had her arms wrapped around Juvia.

The Nurse nodded and mumbled out a room number while trying to suppress the smile on her face.

"What's going on?" The question came from Juvia, who had woken up when Natsu had dragged both girls to their feet.

Lucy smiled brightly at the bluenette, "Gray's awake!"

Juvia actually screamed in pure joy and threw her arms around Lucy in a flying tackle, sending both girls to the ground once again.

Natsu scrambled for a moment, trying to pull both girls back up to their feet at the same time while also trying not to fall to the ground himself. The pink haired male grabbed both of the girls by the wrist and then proceeded to drag them down the hallway at a speed that probably should not have been used in a hospital.

Several sharp turns and near collisions later had the three friends standing out side of a hospital room, unsure of what to do exactly… Were they just supposed to open the door and walk in? Were they supposed to wait for a doctor or someone else to walk out and tell them to go in?

Natsu scratched his head awkwardly and looked down at the smaller girls standing on either side of him. "So…" He said uncomfortably. "Who wants to open the door?" He asked them.

Lucy turned to him, wide eyed. "I thought you were going to do it?" She hissed. Natsu shot her a confused look.

"Why would I do it?" He asked her, keeping his voice low, both of them not noticing Juvia take a step forward.

Lucy gave him an "are you kidding me" look. "He's your friend," she whispered.

"He's your friend too!"

"You're the impulsive one!"

Natsu was about to retort when Juvia threw open the door, cutting off what ever it was he was going to say. Without even meaning to Natsu caught Lucy's hand in his own, squeezing it softly. Together the three teenagers stepped into the room.

**~The Raven~**

"Sup, Guys?" Gray smiled at them as they walked into the room; the same smile was wiped off of his face as soon as he got a good look at their faces.

Juvia let out a sob as she ran up and hugged him. He hugged her back just as tightly. He gave Juvia a squeeze as he looked up at his two best friends. Lucy was crying and Natsu looked like he was on the verge of doing the same thing. "I'm sorry for worrying you guys like this," he sighed, "I'm so sorry."

"If you ever do this again," Lucy spat at him, "I will kick your ass." Then she smiled brightly at him and he couldn't help but notice that her hand was wrapped tightly around Natsu's.

He quirked an eyebrow at the two teens in front of him, remembering what he had told Lucy over the phone, "Are you two dating or something?"

Natsu smirked, "We were getting to that part when you decided it would be fun to get shot."

Gray's eyes bugged out and even Juvia pulled away from him to stare at the two as Lucy smacked the side of his head, a large blush coating her face.

"Speaking of that!" Lucy's voice sounded higher then normal. "How are you still alive? Moreover why aren't you bleeding?"

"You remember that gag headband you and Gajeel made me for my birthday?" Boy did they ever. The thing was completely made of iron and nearly an inch thick. Gajeel and Lucy had thought it would be funny, especially since they, mostly Gajeel had managed to doodle little snowflakes all over it.

"Yeah," she nodded slowly. "What does that have to do with this?"

The dark haired boy smirked, "I was wearing it when that lunatic shot me."

**~The Raven~**

**This chapter was… hard to write. It's basically filler with no real plot development in any way. This is probably my worst chapter yet and I can't promise that the next chapter will be out next week.**

**Ugh… **_**Granted**_** and **_**Kiss It All Better**_** just took all of my writing abilities out of me. I haven't slept in three days.**

**Sorry about that. I just really needed to show that Gray was not dead. I wasn't going to kill him in the first place.**

**So, I'm going to rant a little. **

**After each chapter I like to go online and read discussion forums about said chapter.**

**Lately after reading them I've wanted to shut off my computer and stab myself in the face. Why? Everyone is saying how this manga is "going down hill" and how "it sucks". **

**Sure some of the chapters haven't been the best, but I generally liked this arc. **

**First everyone complains about how Natsu can only win a fight with "power ups" I'll admit this is true to some extent. He won against Jellal because of Eitherion (?) and he defeated Hades with the help of Laxus's DS powers and there was the time that Jellal gave him the Flame of Rebuke, but he got sick after eating these things. He hasn't been able to defeat any of the S class mages and he took down Kain Hikaru with Lucy's help.**

**Plus he didn't even defeat FRouge. The two crashed through the gates and that's what knocked him out.**

**And then there are the people that are pissed about Ultear. I'll admit that I didn't really care that much, she was never high on my favorite character list. Sure it was sad, but everyone saying that she was the best character and their favorite? Bullshit. Half of those people didn't even like her **_**until**_** she died. The people saying Gray's life wasn't worth hers? They were the ones praying that she didn't kill him in the last arc.**

**Besides, if you don't like where the manga is going and you hate it so much why are you still fucking reading it and ruining it for everyone else!?**

**Okay… I'm done now.**

**Sorry,**

**~Rivendell**


	9. Thank You

**The Raven**

**Chapter Nine: Thank You**

**As you walk my way do you see my face?**

**Sad behind a smile, fake it for awhile**

**Tell me what should I do?**

**Can I get closer to you?**

**Tell me the truth**

**Can I get an answer from you?**

**Show me a sign**

**Here I stand with my heart in my hands**

**And all I do**

**To get closer to you**

A timid knock on the door to Igneel's office brought him out of thoughts of murder and a gunshot in the middle of the night nearly a week earlier. He was confused, it was nearly three in the morning, he was at the police station trying to figure out what the hell was happening in the town that he lived in and now someone was here banging on his door?

With a drawn out sigh Igneel made his way to the door, slamming the entrance open and growling at the person on the other side, "Look I don't know what the fuck you want from me at three in the goddamn morning, but-." He cut himself off as he caught a look at the person he was yelling at.

It was Lucy.

The small blonde didn't bat an eyelash at the tone of Igneel's voice; she was there for one reason and one reason only.

"I need to talk to you."

The man quirked an eyebrow at her, "Well I sort of assumed that," he whispered, lowering his voice, "What is it you need Lucy?" He was genuinely curious as to why she was seeking him out so late at night. There was also the added fact that she had walked there in the middle of the night while a man was out murdering girls that matched her description. She must have had a good reason for being where she was.

Lucy shuffled nervously on her feet, staring at the ground. She didn't say a word for several moments; instead she seemed more interested in watching dust collect on the floor beneath her. Igneel was about to repeat his question when her head snapped up, "Can I just… come in for a minute? I think you'll really want to hear what I have to say."

Igneel's eyes widened. What could she have to say that was as important as she made it sound? Igneel was so stunned that he didn't know what to say to her, instead she grew tired of waiting and merely ducked under his arm and moved to stand in front of his desk. She turned back to him expectantly, gesturing with her head for him to sit at his desk.

He pressed two fingers against his temple, murmuring a curse under his breath as he complied with her subtle demands. "Alright Lucy, I'll humor you for now." He fell backwards onto his chair and grinned at her, propping up his head in one of his hands, ready for whatever it was she would tell him. "What is it you want to talk about?" When she didn't respond after a minute he took a guess, "Is this about your dad?"

She shook her head, eyes narrowing into slits. "I haven't seen my father in over a week." Before he could comment on that fact she spoke up again. "This is about the phone call the night Gray was shot."

Igneel's eyebrows knitted together, "You already told me about the phone call," he grumbled, questioning her sanity at that point. Didn't she remember the long talk they had had the day after Gray had been shot at? He sure as hell did.

"Yeah," she agreed with him, "But I didn't tell you what happened at the end. I didn't tell you what I told Natsu."

He was dumbfounded, "You didn't tell me everything?" She nodded once. "Lucy what the fuck didn't you tell me!?"

She flinched slightly at his raised voice but answered nonetheless. "After a few seconds of Gray not answering the guy who shot him picked up the phone." Her voice was steady and far too calm for what she had just said, meaning she must have been thinking about the situation for the past few days or so.

One of his hands curled into a fist. "He talked to you?" She didn't move. "He talked to you and you didn't think to say anything about that!?"

"I know!" She practically screamed the words at him. "I know it was a stupid thing to do, but I was scared, Igneel," her volume dropped down to a whisper, "I was scared." She looked away from him.

Igneel was about to snap something back at her when a sudden thought struck him like a blow to the face. This girl… this girl had gone through so much and had never come to anyone before. For her to even be there right now was amazing in it self.

He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in, his eyes softening as he looked at her. "What did he say to you Lucy?" He whispered. "What did you tell Natsu?"

"The first thing the guy said was that Gray had to die." She looked back up at him. "He said Gray had to die, because I belong to him."

Igneel's soft expression turned into one of anger and confusion, "He said you belong to Gray?"

She shook her head, "He said 'me'. I belong to the guy that shot Gray, not Gray himself."

Igneel gaped at her for a moment. "And you told this to Natsu before saying anything to me?"

"Yes!" She barked at him. "But I didn't tell him the ending."

"What didn't you tell him?" He fired back.

"The guy said I gave him a name," she spat.

"A name?" Igneel whispered. She nodded. "He said you gave him a name?" Another nod. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It does." Her voice wavered with an unreleased sob. "It makes more sense than you know."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "The night of the first murder I took Plue for a walk."

"Yeah," he said the word slowly, not understanding what that had to do with anything. "You told me that."

"I didn't tell you everything though." She looked him straight in the eyes, a fire burning in her own.

"What didn't you tell me?"

"A bird attacked me," she put a hand in the air to silence him when he made a move to speak. "Plue killed it and I thought that was the end of it." She narrowed her eyes, lips pulling back in a snarl. "That bird was a raven."

Igneel's eyes widened at what she said. "How did you give him a name though?"

Her sharp eyes locked onto his. "Where do you think he got the feathers?"

The realization hit him like a freight train. This guy's calling card was practically given to him by Lucy, unknowingly of course. "And all of the girls he has killed have looked like you," he mumbled.

"What?" Shit, he probably shouldn't have said that out loud. He looked into her eyes, seeing raw fear and sadness flooding through them. "Oh god this whole thing is my fault."

He shook his head and moved around his desk just as she crumpled to the floor, "This is not your fault, Lucy. This isn't anyone's fault." He placed a light arm around the girl that was practically his daughter as she sobbed.

She laughed bitterly. "Six girls died because they looked like me and Gray nearly had a bullet placed in his skull because he was talking to me on the phone." She glanced at him. "I'm pretty sure this is my fault."

He shook his head, pulling her closer to him. "Gray is fine because you and Gajeel saved his life without even knowing it and you didn't kill those girls."

"I might as well have."

Igneel could only stare at her sadly, no matter what he would say she would only blame herself. There was also a type of fear creeping into his chest and strangling his heart. One of his girls was in trouble, being stalked or whatever the guy was doing by a man that had killed six girls and had tried to kill someone close to her. One of his girls was in trouble and he had to find a way to protect her.

An idea popped into his head. "You know what?" She looked up at him with a raised brow, tears still streaking across her face. "I'm going to go call Natsu to come pick you up."

"It's three in the morning; you really think he's going to want to come pick me up?"

Igneel gave her a soft smile as he stood up and started to walk back to the other side of his desk, "If the only other option is you walking home alone he'll be here in no time."

She gave him a halfhearted shrug at that. "And why is he picking me up?"

"You are going to be spending the rest of the day at our house, since its summer and all, and when I get back home we are going to have a family night." He continued before she could say anything. "It's only a matter of time before you legally become family Lucy, so don't even argue."

Her face colored in the slightest way at the serious tone he used. "What are you going to do?"

He sent her a grin. "I'm going to figure out how to stop this guy."

**~The Raven~**

Lucy sighed as she stared at the grey walls of the precinct before trailing her gaze down to the white tile floor where she proceeded to count how many there were.

Truthfully she could have been outside instead of inside waiting for Natsu outside of Igneel's office. All she would have to do is walk right take the first left turn and then turn on the next right and _bam_, outside. Then again waiting inside sounded a hell of a lot safer than waiting outside in the middle of the night.

Lucy was still sitting outside of Igneel's office when Natsu came crashing down the hallway, having knocked over a garbage can when he rounded a corner too quickly.

She had been a little nervous at first, sitting alone in a dark hallway in the middle of the night, but she knew that nothing would happen to her so long as Igneel was close by.

When she had heard the sound of feet pounding against the ground she was ready to bolt out of her seat and down the hallway in the opposite direction.

But it was only Natsu.

"Lucy!" He shouted her name as he came to a halt directly in front of her, his legs knocking against her own. He had a wild look in his eyes that only just masked the sleep that still clung to him. "What are you doing down here at three in the morning?"

She pushed herself to her feet and wrapped her arms around him in a heartbeat, his own arms coiling around her almost instinctively. "I had to talk to your dad," she murmured, her words being muffled by his chest.

"It couldn't wait until morning?" He asked into her hair. She shook her head, leaning against him.

"No. No it couldn't." She pulled back and looked up at him. "I need to tell you something," she whispered. A tall man turned the corner at the opposite end of the hallway than they were at. She couldn't make out any features, just a flash of red in the dark.

He dropped his head down closer to hers. "What is it?"

She shook her head quickly, tossing a nervous glance down the hallway. "Not here." The man was just standing there waiting, watching them.

Natsu's eyes narrowed at her behavior before he turned his head to look behind him. Once he caught sight of the man he hooked his right arm around Lucy's shoulders, pulling her against his side. As soon as she was pressed up against him he ducked his head down to whisper in her ear, "We'll talk about it in the car. You're staying with me tonight."

She nodded and cast another look at the man behind them who seemed to be moving closer. Natsu's grip around her tightened and her gaze snapped back up to meet his. "Don't be afraid," he whispered, starting to walk forward, pulling her along with him, "Nothing can happen to you as long as I'm with you."

Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but realized she didn't know what to say to that. Instead she nodded once and they continued to walk onward.

As they continued to walk Lucy could hear a pair of footsteps echoing theirs. She snaked her left arm around Natsu's back, "I think he's following us."

Natsu nodded tersely, "I know. I can hear him."

She bit her lower lip in thought. "You come here a lot, right?" He nodded once again. "Do you know who it is?"

This time Natsu shook his head. "It's too dark to tell and I'm not taking any chances with you here."

Neither of them said anything else. They just kept walking. The person behind them was closer than he had been earlier and he seemed to be speeding up. It took everything Lucy had in her to not take off running right then and there. No. Instead she fisted her hand into the sweatshirt Natsu was wearing, the one with the dragon coiling up the side of it, and focused on keeping her breathing even. Breathe in. Breathe out. And repeat.

It was easier to stay calm when you didn't have an extra set of footsteps tapping the ground after yours.

Sucking in a deep breath Lucy tightened her arm around Natsu, giving him a brief squeeze as she did so. They only had one more hallway to walk down. They had maybe twenty yards to go until they were out of the building and away from whoever was following them.

Lucy bit her lip as she chanced another look at the man. She wasn't expecting anything unusual, maybe him being closer or something of that sort. What she did not expect to see was another glint of red and the shine that came with light reflecting off of steel. She whipped back around, unsure of what exactly he had in his hands, but knowing that it wasn't something good. Before she could think about it she had already pulled out of Natsu's grasp and caught his hand in hers before she darted forward. "Move!"

With that being said Lucy all but dragged the dumbfounded boy out of the precinct.

Lucy never thought she would be so happy to see the shadows that masked Magnolia at night.

Natsu tugged at her hand sharply, lacing his fingers with hers, "What was that all about?" He hissed.

"He had something metal in his hand." Lucy explained to the confused boy, taking a step closer to his side as they walked over to the car he had driven to come pick her up.

Natsu's entire body went rigid, "Could you tell what it was?"

She shook her head, "I was a little busy trying to get both of us out of there." Natsu nodded at her response and walked with her over to the passenger's side of the car. Lucy was just about to open the door when she saw something move in the side mirror. She whipped around and let out a shriek when a man's heavy hand fell onto her shoulder.

Natsu had twisted around as well, fist brought back and poised to throw a punch.

"Wait!" The man shouted, dropping Lucy's shoulder and throwing both of his hands up in front of him. "I didn't mean to scare you!"

Natsu hesitated for a moment and then proceeded to drop his guard, his body relaxing as he realized who the person was. "Gildarts."

"Gildarts?" Lucy murmured. "You're Cana's father."

"Yup," the brunette man nodded at her. "Medical Examiner Gildarts Clive at your service." He stuck a hand out for her to shake and, after a small bout of hesitation, she did. "It's nice to meet you Lucy." A look of horror must have flashed over her face because he started to laugh. "Igneel talks about you sometimes. That's how I know who you are."

"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. Clive." She smiled at him and he sent her a grin in response.

"Just call me Gildarts."

"Well introductions are great and all," Natsu cut in, "But why did you decided to give my girlfriend a heart attack?"

"You two are finally going out?" Natsu shouted at him to "stop avoiding the subject" while Lucy nodded with a grin. "About time Natsu stepped up his game."

"Hey!" Natsu cried out in protest as Lucy giggled. Knowing that Natsu was going to start an argument she wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a light squeeze. He responded by tossing his arm around her shoulders.

"In answer to your question Natsu, I just came over here to say 'hi'." Both teens nodded at the logical reason. "That and I wanted to meet your girlfriend before you two got married." The older man took off running as soon as the words slipped out of his mouth. Cackling all the way over to his car as Natsu spouted off curses.

"Natsu," Lucy giggled out his name and the boy in question tilted his head down to look at her. She leaned up to kiss him. "Let's go home." He hummed in agreement as he kissed her gently. She blocked his attempt to kiss her a second time. "Come on, let's go," she managed to get the words out through her laughter.

He let out an exaggerated sigh, "Alright, we'll go." Before she could stop him he crushed her against his body in a bear hug, dropping her just as quickly he jogged to the other side of the car and both of them got in.

Just before Natsu was about to start driving away someone knocked on his window. The rose haired boy rolled down his window. "Back already Gildarts?"

The brunette man laughed. "I just came to tell you something kid."

"Shoot."

Gildarts gestured to Lucy with his head. "Take care of her." He smiled lightly. "Girls like her don't come around very often and when they do they tend to slip through your fingers."

Natsu turned to look at her and, although he was speaking to Gildarts, he looked her straight in the eyes. "I don't plan on ever letting her go."

After a few seconds Gildarts clapped Natsu on the shoulder, told the two of them to be safe, and left.

Natsu turned to Lucy, "So, what's this thing you need to tell me?"

The blonde chewed her lower lip for a moment, debating on weather or not she should tell the boy what she had told Igneel. This was her best friend and probably the single most important person in her life, didn't he have a right to know? She turned to face him, a completely serious look crossing over her face. "You know the guy that's going around killing those girls?" A dumb question, of course he knew who that was, there weren't exactly a ton of men going around murdering women in Magnolia.

"Yeah," Natsu's eyebrows knitted together as he shifted his gaze to her, "What about him?" Without taking his eyes off of the road in front of them he reached over to her with one hand, placing the appendage on her knee. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She swallowed; this was not going to be a smooth conversation. "He's the one who shot Gray," She kept going, not letting Natsu speak, "During the phone call he said I was the one who gave him a name," she whispered. "You remember the day after the first murder right?"

He nodded, his grip on her knee tightening. "You told me you had gone for a walk late at night with Plue. Bird attacked you."

She cleared her throat, "Do you remember what type of bird I said it was?" She looked over at him, waiting to see if he could fit the pieces together. Natsu, contrary to popular belief, was not an idiot. He could be one of the most intelligent people when it came to actual life problems. School was another matter altogether.

"You told me it was a-," he stopped. His grip on her knee was starting to feel almost painful, but she knew he wasn't trying to hurt her. "No," he murmured. "You can't be trying to tell me that…" He couldn't finish the thought.

She nodded. "He's using the bird's feathers as his… calling card." Her skin crawled at the thought. She may not have been the one killing those girls, but for some reason everything was connected to her in a way that she couldn't comprehend. If she had of stayed home that night maybe things would have been better. Gray wouldn't have been hurt and those girls might have still been alive… But if she had of stayed home could things have been worse? "And, according to your father, all of the girls that have been killed have looked like me."

A low, almost animalistic growl spilled out from the back of Natsu's throat, startling her. The hand that was on her knee moved until it found her own hand, lacing them together. "Nothing," he spat, "Nothing is going to happen to you." His eyes met hers and she could see the raw determination in them. "Not while I'm around."

**~The Raven~**

_Thank you, Lucy. _

Thank you… two small words that could be tossed around as easily as "I'm sorry" and "I love you". Although this was a different case altogether.

Lucy didn't have a clue why Gray was saying this to her now.

After her talk with Natsu earlier that morning the two teenagers had gone to his house, as planned. Natsu had, somehow, managed to coax her into sleeping in the same bed as him, which didn't come as a shock to her. She had finally agreed, because, well, this was Natsu. He wasn't going to try anything on her because if he did she would probably kill him, his parents would kill him, Erza would castrate him, and Gajeel and Laxus would take turns rearranging his face.

By the time she had woken up it was nearly noon, she and Natsu were tangled up like a pretzel, and Wendy was standing in the doorway giggling at the two of them. When the blonde had tried to get up Natsu had growled and refused to let go of her until the word "food" was mentioned.

Now it was nine at night and they were getting ready to watch a movie.

She sighed heavily and typed in a reply to her dark haired friend.

_If this is about the headband thing you should really be thanking Gajeel. He's the one who made it._

His reply was almost instantaneous and that unnerved her to no end. Gray had always been a slow texter, taking as long as he possibly could to text people back

Lucy shook her head. Gray was probably just happy that he was alive and that was why he was replying like his life depended on it.

Hopefully it didn't.

_That is not why I'm thanking you._

Lucy narrowed her eyes. Why else would Gray be thanking her?

Before she could type in a response a certain person walked back into the room.

"So, how are my two favorite girls?" A smile instantly flitted across her face as her boyfriend walked into the room, hugging a giggling Wendy once before moving over to her and wrapping his arms around her.

"Natsu," Wendy chided, "Lucy should be your _only_ favorite girl." The salmon haired boy shot her a look as he fell onto the couch next to Lucy with a huff.

"Yeah, Natsu!" Igneel shot his son a wicked look as he and Grandine walked in after him, plopping down on the other couch in the room next to Wendy. It was a family movie night and, well, Lucy was basically part of the family. "Your _girlfriend_ should be your favorite!" He teased the two.

Lucy burst out into a fit of giggles as she caught a look at Natsu's face as it turned the same color as his hair just before he buried his face in her own hair. "Shut up old man!"

Grandine rolled her eyes and smacked the back of her husband's head. "Leave them alone Igneel." She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Need I remind you what _your_ father said the first time you brought me home?"

The red haired man blanched and mumbled out a timid "no" under his breath while everyone else laughed.

"If we're being technical," Natsu mused, "This isn't the first time I've brought Lucy home with me."

Grandine cocked an eyebrow, "This is the first time you've brought her home as your girlfriend."

Natsu narrowed his eyes, "She came home with me this morning after I picked her up from the police station."

"This is the first time you've brought her here for a date."

"This isn't a date!" He protested.

Lucy whipped around to face him, eyes alight with horror, "It's not!?"

His eyes widened, "No! No, I meant that it's… not… I," he shot her a defeated look, "I'm sorry…"

Lucy laughed lightly as she leaned in to kiss him. "I'm only kidding Natsu."

"Mmm," He made a light sound of agreement as he ducked down to kiss her a second time. "I know you are, but they," he tilted his head towards his family members, "Aren't."

"Damn right!"

"Igneel! Don't swear in front of Wendy!"

"Oh please, she's heard worse."

Lucy giggled lightly as Grandine smacked the side of his head, lecturing him on proper etiquette while he let out a cry of pain. Lucy looked up at Natsu. "I love your family."

Natsu smiled at her and mumbled something she couldn't quite catch, "What?" She looked up at him, waiting for him to repeat himself. Natsu's face colored slightly and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Lucy I-."

"So what are we watching?" Grandine questioned the group, dark eyes flitting from one person to the next.

Wendy smiled brightly at her mother and held up the movie that they were going to be watching that night. "The Lion King!"

Lucy laughed at Wendy's enthusiasm. The younger girl was so adorable. Just like her brother was when he wanted to be. Almost as if hearing her thoughts, Natsu grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up against him, shifting so that her legs were thrown over his lap. She twisted so that she could meet his eyes and was shocked when his lips met hers in a sweet kiss. The two pulled away at the sound of Igneel's voice.

"You two!" He barked as the two teens split apart. "Keep it like the movie," he smirked, "P… G," he said the two letters slowly and both Lucy and Natsu turned the color of the older man's hair.

"That was PG!" Natsu protested. "We were only kissing."

Igneel shot his son a sly look. "Kissing can lead to… other activities."

With a groan Lucy buried her face against Natsu's shoulder while he hid his face in her hair. Why would Igneel bring something like that up? Especially while Wendy was in the room!

Igneel cackled as both teens awkwardly tried to evade the situation.

**~The Raven~**

He was angry.

No, he was way beyond angry.

He was completely and utterly _livid_.

First he had shot the wrong man, which, admit ably, was his own fault for not recognizing the fact that the voice was wrong and the height was wrong and the whole thing was just wrong, wrong, _wrong_!

And now his Lucy was dating the pink haired man that he despised with every fiber in his body, with every drop of blood in his veins, with every breath that he took, and with every scream that he would tear out of her throat.

He had had to fight back the urge to rush up and just _kill_ the bastard when he had turned the corner in the precinct and the pink haired boy had been hugging her. He had followed them and the boy had pressed her up against himself and they had been walking too closely. And he had still followed them because the bastard was holding onto what rightfully belonged to _him_. And then she had noticed him following them and she had seen the knife he was wielding in his hand and she had _run_.

She wouldn't be running from him for much longer.

And then they were talking to Gildarts and he had hidden in the shadows as the man laughed with them and talked about them marrying and all the while that bastard was holding _her_ in _his_ arms and if he ever met that boy in a dark alley he would tear of those arms and leave him to bleed out on the cold, miserable ground while he laughed.

And then he had kissed her and he wanted to put a bullet through his skull. No, he wanted to do something worse. He wanted to do something much worse. He wanted to make sure the pink haired boy, Igneel's son, suffered in agony while he _took_ her. He wanted to remove all traces of the Dragneel boy from her lips; he wanted to claim them as his own. He had had to stop himself from charging at the boy and ripping him to pieces right then and there. He wanted to though. God he wanted to.

He wanted her.

And he was going to have her.

Not that it really mattered that she was with the Dragneel boy. She wouldn't be with him for long. He was going to make sure of that. He was going to make sure that bastard never saw her pretty little face again. He was never going to see her or touch her or speak to her and that was going to _kill_ him. That was going to kill him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He needed to be careful though. Igneel was figuring things out and he couldn't have that happening. He couldn't have the red haired man figuring out his plans. His plans had taken him weeks to perfect. Weeks of following and watching and waiting and being tormented by being so close –_so close_- to her but not being able to touch her.

That was all going to change.

A smirk flitted across his face as he recalled her conversation with Igneel Dragneel. She knew that she had given him his name. She was such a brilliant girl. And she was right; of course, he had killed those girls because of her. He was only practicing though. Those girls meant nothing to him. Their blood meant nothing to him. Their _bodies_ meant nothing to him. He was only practicing.

He was practicing for her.

And he had one last test subject. Just one final girl.

His eyes narrowed, so much like blood, as he caught sight of a small blonde walking alone down the street not fifty feet from him. People were so foolish. They knew he was out there so why were they walking alone? He laughed lowly. At least it made his job easier.

He watched her for a moment longer. The hair color was right and he could only assume the eye color was the same. The body type was wrong though. She wasn't as tall as Lucy, nor was she as curvy.

He took a step forward.

She never saw him coming.

In less than five seconds he had darted down the street, the girl had turned all too late, and with one fluid motion he had snapped her neck as if it was nothing. She had fallen to the ground with a heavy sound that no one else would be able to hear.

He would not be taking his time with this one.

He didn't have the time for it.

The clock was ticking down.

Her time was running out.

Lucy's time.

He pulled out a knife and wasted no time in slashing out a single word on the smooth skin on the blonde's stomach, carving the word into his flesh and relaxing as the rush of blood overloaded his senses.

The smell of it wove through him, curling around his brain and calming him in the most amazing way.

The color reflected in his eyes, a brilliant scarlet that would never dim, never, never dim.

He let his fingers dip into the open wounds stretching over her abdomen, relishing the feel of the slick liquid coating his hand. He raised the bloodied hand to his face, taking a long, slow lick.

He wrenched himself away from the digits just as quickly.

He needed to leave now or he never would.

He pushed himself to his feet, heaving a sigh as he dropped the inky black feather to the ground where it fell next to the girl's hand.

He clutched his own hand to his head as thoughts of _her_ flooded through his head as if some sort of dam had broken in the back of his mind.

Thoughts of Lucy.

He couldn't wait to take her.

Taste her skin.

A sick smile crossed his face.

This was going to be so much fun.

**~The Raven~**

"Igneel!" A voice barked in his ear startling him awake. Why was he awake? Through bleary eyes he caught a look at the time. Why was he awake at one in the morning? Someone smacked his shoulder. "Igneel!"

His eyes focused in on the figure of his wife hovering over him. "What is it Grandine?" Why was she waking him up at one in the morning?

She held a cell phone out in front of her.

His cell phone.

"Someone is calling you."

His eyes snapped open and he practically lunged for the phone. Something was wrong. Something bad had happened. That was the mantra that was repeating in his head as he bolted up the stairs to get dressed while simultaneously trying to speak to the person on the phone. "Hello? Hello, who is this?!"

Igneel shoved the door to his room open and nearly tripped as he moved to take his pants off. "_Igneel_?" The voice on the line said his name slowly.

He shrugged on a button up shirt, "Gildarts…" he sighed, "What happened?"

The other man's voice was thick when he responded. "_We found another body_."

The red haired man cursed under his breath, what he had been afraid of had happened and he couldn't do anything to stop it. "Where?"

Gildarts quickly gave him the address and in a flash Igneel was back down the stairs. "Grandine I have to go, there was a-."

"Murder," she finished for him. "I figured as much," she whispered.

After an awkward moment of the two of them just standing there Grandine took a small step forward and threw her arms around her husband's neck, burying her face against his chest. Almost immediately he wrapped one of his arms around her back, holding her against him, the other moved to the back of her neck, gently grasping onto her bright blue hair. "Be careful," she murmured against the skin of his neck.

He gave her a light squeeze. "I will." He pulled back from her and gave her a quick kiss before moving into the living room to say his silent goodbyes to his kids.

He crouched down next to Wendy and kissed the top of her head lightly. He cast a glance at the couple curled around each other in the dark. Natsu was wrapped around Lucy like a suit of armor, strong as iron and there to protect.

And with a final kiss to his wife he left the house and made his way to the scene that he knew was going to ruin his entire day.

**~The Raven~**

By the time Igneel got to the crime scene police were already milling around, looking for anything that could help them figure out who did this.

He was about to walk directly over to the body splayed across the ground when a hand latched onto his elbow. He whirled around, coming face to face with Gildarts.

"Before you go over there I have to tell you some things," the medical examiner told him.

Igneel raised a brow at the man but said nothing, only watching as Gildarts shuffled nervously for a moment. What could have been bad enough that it had Gildarts nervous? Igneel shook the thoughts from his head. Something incredibly bad must have happened. "What happened?"

"Well," the man rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, "I just want to start by saying I met Lucy the other day. She's a sweet Girl."

"Does this have any relevance to what happened here?"

Gildarts nodded. "Sadly enough, yes." He sighed. "This whole thing was a deviant from the other murders." He led Igneel over to the body, pointing to the neck. "Normally he rips the girls to pieces, blood everywhere," He met Igneel's eyes. "This time he just snapped her neck."

"Then where's the blood-?"

"I'm getting to that!" Gildarts barked at him. "He didn't take any body parts from her, he didn't slice up every inch of her body, and he didn't do much of anything!" The man cursed under his breath.

"So, he is getting sloppy?" Igneel guessed.

"No," Gildarts spat out, "He's giving us a message."

"What do you mean?" Igneel questioned him. After a moment Gildarts moved away from the body leaving it in plain view.

Igneel felt like he was going to be sick.

"You were right. He is after her," the dark haired man looked away from Igneel.

Igneel could only stare at the body. Blonde hair and brown eyes, but that's not the worst part. The worst part was that he had carved a word into the girl's stomach with a jagged knife. The word was almost unrecognizable under all of the blood and gore, but he could still see it perfectly clear.

How could anyone…

Igneel turned away, instead looking at the black raven's feather that was just barely brushing up against the tips of the girl's fingers.

Now he understood why Gildarts had brought up Lucy.

He had carved one word into the stomach of the girl he had killed that night.

He had slashed the name "Lucy" into the flesh of her torso.

**~The Raven~**

Lucy woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing on the floor next to the couch she had fallen asleep on. She didn't realize what the annoying noise was for the first few seconds, it was only after the buzzing stopped that she remembered what the sound was and where exactly _she_ was. Lucy cursed under her breath, she really didn't want to have to move to grab the offending noise maker, she was far too comfortable. The couch was warm and she felt incredibly secure and its rhythmic breathing was lulling her back into sleep.

Her brows furrowed and bleary eyes opened.

Couches don't breathe.

They also don't growl when you try to move away from them.

All traces of sleep left her as she realized that the object she was curled up against was less of an object and more of a creature.

Natsu…

A quick glance around her and the sight of rose colored hair confirmed her suspicion. Yes, Natsu was the breathing, growling creature that she had somehow fallen asleep against.

Well, actually that part didn't surprise her as much as it should have.

What did surprise her was the fact that she was wearing his sweatshirt.

Well it could have been worse. Sleeping next to a teenage boy and waking up with _more_ clothing on than she had slept with was definitely something that didn't happen to most people.

Normally it was the opposite.

Another fact that surprised he was that she was on top of his lap.

How it the world did she end up there? What? How was it possible that every time the two of them fell asleep on that couch they always ended up in the same exact position?

It didn't make sense.

It didn't make sense at all.

She shifted in her spot and moved to stand when an arm shot out and snaked around her waist dragging her back against the boy that had been asleep not three seconds earlier. "What time is it?" The boy's voice was slurred; obviously he had just woken up himself.

She half shrugged, curling against his warmth. She closed her eyes tightly, "Early," she mumbled against his chest. And yeah, it was early. It was still dark and the entire house was quiet. With a sigh Lucy propped her head up against Natsu's shoulder, letting a hand snake up to play with his hair.

She ran her hand through his hair gently, smiling when Natsu let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr. He coiled both of his arms around her torso, pulling her flush up against his body and let his head rest against her own.

He was asleep moments later.

Lucy smiled as she glanced up at the boy that she had fallen in love with. Yes, love. There was no point in her trying to deny it. To deny it would be the greatest lie she had ever told.

She was done lying.

It was almost hard to believe. Not even two weeks ago they had only been close friends and now… Now she didn't know what she would do without him. She didn't even want to think about life without him.

With a smile spread across her face she moved her head out from under his, carefully letting it fall back against the couch. She kissed the corner of his mouth once before twisting around to grab her discarded phone for the second time.

Only to be stopped for the second time.

There was no warning. Only a slight shift and the feeling of fingers brushing against her side and then suddenly she was being pinned to the couch with Natsu hovering over her.

He smirked down at her. "You were just going to tease me with that?" He leaned down closer to her. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you did that?" She blushed and looked away from, very aware of what it was he was referring too. His lips just barely brushed against hers, "Sorry Lu."

And then they were kissing once again and she let all of her worry melt away, focusing on the force of his mouth slamming down on hers.

They probably shouldn't have been kissing like they were while there was a good chance that his parents or god forbid his _sister_ could walk in, but that thought went out the window as soon as he had to swallow the muffled noise that he coaxed from the back of her mouth, his tongue darting in to play with her own for a brief minute before he pulled away.

She didn't even have time to catch her breath when he moved his mouth down to the side of her neck. She let out a surprised squeak as he bit down on her neck roughly. Her first thought was that he might have drawn blood, but she knew he wouldn't do that.

Well most likely anyway.

Her second thought was that she now knew just how sensitive her neck was to all of his touches.

He seemed to come to the same conclusion when he swiped his tongue over the place he had just bitten, drawing a shiver from her.

He kissed her neck softly once and then nuzzled the soft skin. "Hey, Lucy?" He whispered against her throat.

"Yeah?" She whispered back, running her fingers through his hair.

"I l-."

"Natsu? Lucy?"

With a gasp Lucy shoved Natsu off of her as the sound of Wendy's voice penetrated her mind.

Dear god, what had that girl heard?

"Yeah?" Natsu's voice sounded strangled and higher than it normally was. He coughed once, his voice lowering to a normal pitch, "Yeah, Wendy?"

The younger girl yawned and Lucy could see her shift on the _other_ couch in the room.

The other couch.

Not the one she was on… not the couch she and Natsu had just defiled.

The other couch.

"Nothing," The little girl rolled over and curled up on her side. "I just wanted to know if anyone else was still down here."

Lucy heaved a sigh of relief. So Wendy hadn't heard anything… that's good.

She glanced at Natsu, who was still on the ground, and caught the smirk on his face. "What?"

His smile widened, "That," he said slowly, "Is definitely going to leave a mark."

She slapped a hand over the bite mark on her neck before reaching down and grabbing her phone.

She ignored the boy's laughter as she checked to see who had texted her.

It was Gray.

Well, it was from Gray's phone.

Seven words had her dropping the phone just as soon as she saw them.

_Thank you for giving me a name._

**~The Raven~**

** There we go!**

** Sorry it took so long!**

** First my feels were played with after the last chapter of the manga.**

** Then I read chapter 260 of RAVE MASTER and oh god Sieg! I cried… I actually cried.**

** Also I decided to give you guys a lot of kissing because it won't be happening again for awhile. Mwahahaha.**

** Anyone care to take a guess as to who "The Raven" actually is? He's from Fairy Tail. Meaning the series, not just the guild.**

** First person to get it right gets a special one shot done for them.**

** Also, here's a sneak peak at next time!**

"My word," he hissed, "Is final."

"You have the right to remain silent."

"So, your solution is to arrest me?"

"Thank you for giving me a name."

** I bet you can't guess who all of them are.**


	10. What Was Right is Wrong

**The Raven**

**Chapter Ten: What Was Right is Wrong**

The phone fell to the ground with a loud clatter, causing Natsu's eyes to spring open in shock and waking Wendy up for the second time that night.

Lucy had to stop herself from hyperventilating.

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

How could she have been so stupid? Of course it wasn't Gray! The last person to use the phone was the guy who tried to kill him!

Natsu, catching the expression on her face, lurched to his feet and settled onto the couch next to her. "What's wrong Lucy?"

"Lucy?" Wendy had stood up in confusion and was making her way over to the older girl, sinking into the couch on the girl's other side.

Lucy shook her head and buried her head in her hands, pointing a finger at the cell phone at her feet.

Natsu stared at the phone dubiously, but after a quick glance back at his girlfriend, noticing the distress and unshed tears, he scooped up the offending object and scanned his eyes over the contents of the text. As soon as he finished reading it realization hit him hard.

_He _had Gray's phone.

He had been talking to Lucy using _Gray's_ phone.

That was not good.

Not good at all.

Natsu set the phone back on the ground and sat down next to Lucy, not quite sure what he should say.

He could have slapped himself.

He didn't need to _say_ anything.

He just had to be there.

And so he was.

Natsu coiled his arms around Lucy and drew her to his chest, holding her there while she shook.

He hated the fact that she was scared, but what he hated even more was the fact that he couldn't do anything about it.

So with a sigh he buried his face in her hair and tightened his grip on her, keeping her grounded.

Wendy wasn't sure what to do either, she was being kept in the dark with most of the things that had been happening, but she could tell something was wrong.

Of course something was wrong! The blonde was on the verge of having a breakdown.

Wendy, like her brother, used her actions instead of her words. She started to move her hand in soothing circles along the girl's back, drawing nonsensical patterns and looking at the girl that was like her sister with wide eyes.

Natsu wasn't sure how long the three of them just sat there. Everything was quiet and a quick glance at the clock on the wall showed that it was nearly four in the morning.

Lucy was still shaking against his chest, but she wasn't crying. She wouldn't cry, because this was Lucy and she could take nearly everything head on and still get back up.

There was a soft noise and then Happy had jumped up onto his lap, trying to squeeze his way in between Natsu and Lucy. The small, blue cat cooed at the distressed girl and she pulled her head out of her hands to look at him.

"You feel neglected Happy?" She whispered to the cat, scooping him up into her arms and rubbing in between his ears, making the cat purr loudly in approval.

Wendy giggled lightly and Lucy tossed her a small smile, silently apologizing for waking her up.

Natsu smiled and pulled both his girlfriend and his cat onto his lap, causing Wendy to laugh louder at his silly antics. He threw an arm around Lucy's waist and used the other hand to pet Happy.

He leaned his head against Lucy's, "Do you remember how Happy turned blue?" He asked the two girls quietly.

Both girls laughed lightly, "Of course I do," Lucy whispered back, "Jellal was so afraid that you were going to kill him and Gajeel said that if he went anywhere near Pantherlily he would make sure that Jellal could never walk straight again."

Happy hissed slightly at the mention of Jellal. To this day the cat would not let the blue haired man come anywhere near him. Wendy giggled once again as Happy stood from Lucy's lap and darted off to some other place in the house.

Natsu nodded, "That's the last time I ever let him take care of an animal."

She hummed in agreement, it was sad that Jellal could accidently screw up which bottle was for shampoo and which was for his blue hair dye.

It was also sad that he had tried to give the cat a bath in the first place.

"Thanks you two," Lucy murmured against the side of Natsu's neck, one of her arms snaking around his body while the other reached for Wendy, pulling the smaller girl up against her.

Natsu kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger there for as long as he could. And then both he and Wendy looked at her and asked two words at the exact same time. "For what?"

She nearly laughed at their synchronicity but instead sucked in a deep breath, "For being you."

Wendy threw both of her arms around Lucy's neck and hugged her tightly, "Don't ever change Lucy," the younger girl muttered against her neck. Lucy nearly blushed, praying that the girl didn't see the bite mark that was in plain view.

"I won't."

Natsu didn't say anything for a long moment, but that didn't bother her. Natsu was not the best at human interaction. He couldn't say the right thing to save his life, but he cared and that was all that mattered.

"You go back to work tonight?"

She shook her head, not releasing Wendy, "I have the earlier shift. Three to nine."

After the whole thing with Gray she had requested a week off of work and after explaining the situation to Makarov, her boss, he had granted it right away. She hadn't seen Laxus or Cana or Bixlow or Freed or Elfman in almost a week and she was starting to feel bad about not telling them what was going on.

"So… what are we going to do?"

She looked up at him, "Do about what?"

He smiled at her teasingly, but she could tell that he was tense, and nodded at the offending piece of technology resting on the floor. "The text," he clarified.

"We," she pulled him into the hug she was sharing with Wendy, "Are going to tell your dad about it whenever it is he gets home."

"Then do what?"

"Then we let your dad do his job."

**~The Raven~**

Lucy wasn't sure what to do at that moment. She had gone home (alone) to let Plue outside and feed him and hopefully avoid her father (if he was even home) and suddenly five strange girls had popped out of nowhere and attacked her.

Okay so they didn't really attack her and she knew who they were, but they were still strange.

The five girls (Mira, Lisanna, Erza, Juvia, and Levy) had practically dragged her into her house and demanded answers. Apparently Juvia had told the other girls what Natsu had accidently said to Gray in the hospital about them "dating". Honestly though she was surprised that the girls hadn't gone looking for her earlier.

So, yes, here she was, just sitting on her bedroom floor with Plue trying to sit in her lap and her five closest female friends smirking at her and refusing to let her leave.

Great.

Now, it's not that she didn't love her friends- seriously, you have no idea how much she loves them-, but the whole kidnapping thing was unnecessary and if she didn't get back to Natsu's house soon he would probably have a heart attack. Unfortunately Mira had confiscated her phone, so she had no way of telling him she was safe.

"Alright!" She shouted at the other girls. "I'll tell you everything!" The girls cheered. "But can someone _please_ text Natsu so that he knows I haven't been kidnapped or something?"

"Alright, fine," Levy grumbled as she took the phone from Mira, complying with Lucy's request.

"So, Lucy," Mira grinned at her. "Juvia told us something rather interesting about you and Natsu."

"Did she now?" Lucy shot a glare at her blue haired friend.

"Yeah, she did," Lisanna teased. "Something about you and Natsu dating, right Levy?"

The bluenette nodded. "You're right Lisanna." Levy giggled. "So why don't you tell us about it Lu?"

Lucy sighed, "Do I have a choice?"

Erza shook her head. "Nope."

And so she explained what had happened. How they had kissed, how he had later asked her out _after_ they had made sure that Gray was alive and doing fine. By the end of her little story the girls were all cooing and giggling about what had happened.

"But wait," Erza spoke up, causing the other five girls to look at her in confusion.

The redhead turned to Lucy. "I thought you said you weren't going to date him."

The blonde, in turn, blushed, "That's what I thought too," Lucy whispered. "I guess…" she trailed off and the other girls leaned in closer to hear what she had to say. " I guess I was just done trying to ignore what was there." The other girls cooed again and gave their congratulations and "good for you"'s before Lucy shot all of them a wicked smirk. "Besides, he's a great kisser."

After the laughter subsided Erza promised to kill him if he ever hurt Lucy and the other girls made similar promises, all smiling brightly at her.

God how she loved these girls.

**~The Raven~**

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" He asked her for the umpteenth time that night.

"Natsu," she hissed at her boyfriend, "Unlock the door!"

After the events of earlier that morning the two teenagers and Wendy had waited until Igneel had gotten back. After explaining about the cell phone Igneel had politely asked Wendy to go up to her room, after a moment of hesitation and reassurance from the blonde the little girl had complied, and Igneel told Natsu and Lucy that another girl had been killed several hours earlier. He told them about Lucy's name being carved into the girl's stomach and told both of them to be careful.

Natsu had offered to give Lucy a ride to Fairy Tail after she had gotten away from the girls, well it was more of a demand, but that was beside the point, and was currently holding her hostage in the car. He had locked the doors and was refusing to release her until he was sure nothing would happen to her.

"Don't talk to strangers," he told her firmly, eyes burning holes into the side of her face.

"I work at a bar," she protested, "I sort of have to talk to strangers."

He ignored her, "If you see anyone suspicious, you call me."

"Alright 'mom'," she hissed, "I will. Now can you let me out of the car?"

"If anyone even looks at you funny, you call me."

Lucy slapped a hand against her face. This man was driving her insane right now! She knew that he meant well, but this was a bit much.

"You know," she mused, "I could probably tell you 'I love you' right now and you wouldn't even notice."

She was right. He acted as if she hadn't even said a word.

Natsu's grip on the steering wheel tightened immensely and he let out what sounded suspiciously like a growl, "If anyone tries to hurt you-."

"I'll call you!" She cut him off.

He, once again, ignored her, "-You call me."

Lucy sighed and decided to try a different tactic, one that Natsu probably wouldn't like. Oh well, it was his own fault for acting insane.

"If anyone-."

She took a deep breath and cut him off with one of the worst statements he had ever heard in his life.

"I'm sleeping with Bixlow."

His eyes shot open wide, "You're what!" He nearly screamed at her.

She turned to him, mouth agape, and nearly shouted back, "That's the part you hear!?" She burst into loud peals of laughter, "Of course that's the only part you hear!"

Natsu stared at her in shock, having absolutely no clue what was going on or why she was laughing. All that he had heard was that his girlfriend, his _best friend_ above all else, had been sleeping around with some other guy.

"Why am I laughing?" Lucy questioned, mostly to herself, because she honestly had no clue. Natsu was probably getting the wrong idea and now she was laughing and not even trying to deny what she had just said.

"That's what I'd like to know," Natsu all but spat the words at her, keeping his gaze on everything except for her. He didn't tell her to leave though; because this was Natsu and no matter how bad what she had said had sounded he was going to let her explain herself.

After another moment Lucy finally calmed down. "Okay," she started, "I'm going to tell you right now that what you heard me say wasn't true."

He looked over at her, "And why should I believe you?"

Lucy shuffled in the passenger's seat, moving so that she was leaning over Natsu with her face hovering only a few inches away from his. "Because you know that I would never do something like that." Then she leaned down the rest of the way and pressed her lips against his.

He wasn't complaining.

She pulled away from him after a few seconds and he grumbled a protest under his breath. "Is there a specific reason you nearly gave me a heart attack?" He asked her gently.

Lucy smiled at him, "You were acting crazy," she murmured. "You kept saying to call you if something goes wrong- which I will-," she added as he tried to cut in. "But do you really think something is going to happen? Laxus is going to be in there too."

"I know," he sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just…" He trailed of, not meeting her eyes.

"Just what Natsu?" She gave him a worried look but didn't say anything else. Natsu was a guy, the whole "feelings" thing was going to be complicated and he was probably not going to want to talk about it.

"I love you," he suddenly blurted out, causing her to reel back in shock. Did he really just…? He swallowed and brought both of his arms around her back, holding her to him. "I love you. That's what I had been trying to say last night." He cleared his throat in embarrassment. "I know that we've only been dating for a few days, but I've known you for years now and I've liked you for just as long." He looked away from her. "It's okay if you don't feel the same. I just wanted to let you know because I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you and-."

She kissed him again.

After several moments of the breath taking kiss, Natsu hadn't exactly gotten to take a breath before hand, Lucy pulled away and pressed her forehead against his. "Sorry about that," she murmured. "You were rambling," she explained. "Now, before you start to freak out again let me say something." He nodded and she took it as a cue to keep going. "As I said while you were being a dork-."

"-Hey-!"

"-I love you too."

Natsu's body went rigid, his eye popping open and shock written all over his face. "Are you serious?" He breathed out.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" She didn't give him a chance to respond before she slammed her mouth back down onto his.

Natsu was just about to deepen the kiss when someone knocked on the car window.

Lucy pulled away from him, her entire face turning the same color as Erza's hair.

"This is the third time I've been cock blocked by someone." She gave him a weird look before looking at the person standing outside the car and he continued. "First Gray, then Wendy," he turned to see who the third person was, "Now Laxus… Laxus!"

Natsu and Lucy scrambled away from each other as if the other person was on fire, shooting out of the car, and moving so that they each faced the tall blond haired man that was currently glaring daggers at Natsu.

Great start.

Lucy laughed, albeit nervously, "Hey Laxus," she grinned at him, "What are you doing here?"

Laxus quirked a brow at her, "I work here," he deadpanned. After a tense few seconds he smiled and pulled Lucy into a hug. "I'm glad you're back Blondie."

She rolled her eyes. "You're blond too," she grumbled.

Laxus released her after a moment and glanced at Natsu, who stiffened in fear. "So, when did you two start going out?" The question was directed at both of them, but Laxus was staring at Natsu, practically daring him _not_ to answer the question.

Natsu coughed. "About a week ago," he murmured.

"Just before Gray was shot," Lucy added, trying to get Laxus to take his attention away from the nervous rose haired boy. Well… technically they hadn't gotten together until after Gray was shot; they had just…made out… a little.

Laxus nodded, "How is he?"

"He's fine," Lucy smirked, "Bullet didn't even scratch him." Laxus raised an eyebrow at that but didn't question it.

"That's good to hear, I'm glad he's okay."

Natsu laughed. "Aren't we all?" he joked, accidently making Laxus realize he was still there. Natsu stopped laughing as soon as Laxus shot him a cold glare, making the younger boy shifted in his spot and drop his gaze to the floor.

"Have you too done anything yet?" Laxus asked the two of them.

Lucy's eyes shot open, "No!"

"We kissed a little," Natsu murmured.

She hissed at him, "Not helping!"

"Salamander," Laxus said the nickname sternly.

"Yeah?" Natsu whispered.

Laxus didn't bat an eyelash at the other boy. "Hurt her and I'll kick your ass," he smirked.

Natsu snorted, "Get in line," he grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Laxus snarled at him, taking a threatening step towards the other male.

Natsu threw his hands up in surrender. "I said you'd have to 'get in line'." Natsu wasn't sure what the hell to do, so he just kept talking. "I mean- my parents would both kill me, Gajeel would kill me, Jellal and Gray, Erza, the other girls, my sister, Happy-."

"Okay," Laxus cut him off, "I got it." He glanced at Lucy, a brow shooting up towards his hairline as he used his head to gesture to Natsu, clearly asking her _"what the hell was wrong with him!", _she shrugged in response and Laxus looked at Natsu again. "Just don't hurt her."

Natsu smiled softly and walked around the car to stand next to the other two. "I don't plan to," he whispered before giving Lucy a quick kiss and then dancing away and back into his car before Laxus could hurt him.

Natsu waved goodbye to both of them and then proceeded to drive away, leaving Lucy to deal with Laxus.

The other blond immediately rounded on her. "Why did you have to pick the weird one?" He hissed at her, eyes trained on the outline of "the weird one" as he slowly disappeared from sight.

"First of all," she countered, "I didn't 'pick' him; second, the other ones are dating my friends, and third, I found you and Cana making out in a broom closet two weeks ago."

That had not been something she wanted to see. She had been looking for a broom so that she could sweep up the floor after her late shift and she checked the broom closet, because, really, where else do people keep brooms? The next thing she knows she was staring at Laxus and Cana with their lips glued together and more than one choice article of clothing missing.

Not something she had wanted to see.

"For the last time," Laxus nearly screeched at her, "We were not making out!"

"Oh, really?" She asked. "Then what were you two doing?"

Laxus turned bright red. "She was helping me look for something."

Lucy quirked a brow as she pushed open the doors to Fairy Tail, ready to head to the employees' only room in the back. "She was helping you look for something?" She asked.

"Yup."

She tried to hide her smirk. Really she did. "And it was in your mouth?"

"Ye-yeah," he stuttered out after a moment.

Her smirk grew as Laxus followed her into the back room, not meeting her eye. She waited until he got a glass of water and started to drink before asking her next question. "And she was using her tongue to find it?"

The water flew everywhere.

"There was no tongue involved!" He hissed at her, blushing.

Lucy wasn't exactly sure, but she didn't think his face was supposed to turn that particular shade of red.

"I was there!" She argued with him, "I saw what happened. There was tongue!" She barked back at him. He didn't say anything to that. "So… did you like it?"

"Lucy!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she joked, "Of course you liked it! You practically pushed me out of the closet and told me to leave!"

"I did not!" He protested.

"Oh, that's right," she teased, "How could you speak to me with your tongue shoved down Cana's throat? Silly me," she giggled.

"For the last time, _there was no tongue_!"

She laughed loudly at him, "You keep telling yourself that!"

He glared at her for a moment and then a smile broke out over his face. "It's good to have you back." He ruffled her hair.

She smiled up at him, "It's good to be back."

**~The Raven~**

Igneel's hand balled itself into a fist as he stared into the eyes of Captain Jose Porla, his boss and one of the men he despised above all others, wanting nothing more than to slam said fist into his smirking face.

"You want me," Jose laughed as if the whole situation was a huge joke, "To put the girl in protective custody?" He smirked at Igneel and shook his head.

"Yes," Igneel growled at him angry that the other man was laughing at his request. "You saw what he did to those other girls." The mutilations and all of the blood. "I won't let that happen to her."

Igneel would not allow anything to happen to her. First he couldn't protect her from her father and everything he had done and now there was a man who, quite possibly, wanted her dead. He was still iffy on that part. Did he want to kill her or did he want her for something else?

Jose rolled his eyes. "All this talk of that girl and ravens and the dead," He smiled, "Yet you have no solid evidence that he is going to target her."

Igneel ground his teeth together to keep himself from snarling at the man in front of him. It probably didn't work. "He carved her name and the word next into the stomach of the last girl he killed."

Jose raised an eyebrow at him, "And how many other girls have the name 'Lucy'?"

Igneel sighed, he had to get Lucy somewhere safe and this man was not helping him in any way whatsoever. "I suppose several, but-."

"Exactly!" Jose cried in triumph.

"But how many of them are blonde with brown eyes?"

The smirk that Jose tossed his way was so wicked that Igneel felt all of his hope shatter in an instant. The man uttered one word.

"Several."

Igneel felt his heart stop in his chest. "Captain, she could die!" He shouted, voice rising to levels that it shouldn't.

Jose turned away from him. "That is none of my concern."

Igneel's eyes widened and his blood ran cold. "None of your- you're a cop! You're more than a cop! Your job is to protect people like her!" Igneel practically screamed the words at the other man, slamming a hand down on the desk in front of him.

"Enough!" Jose lunged to his feet and slammed his hands flat onto the large oak desk in front of him, much like Igneel had done not a moment earlier. Igneel took a step backwards and dropped his gaze to the floor. "You will watch your tongue with me Igneel Dragneel," he spat. "Your reputation, your job, and your family are being put at risk because of your attitude today." Igneel wasn't sure if Jose was threatening him right then or if he was merely stating a fact.

Igneel let his hair fall in front of his eyes as he stared at his shoes. "I'm deeply sorry Captain, but I must insist-."

Jose cut him off with an angry glare. "My word," he hissed, "Is final."

**~The Raven~**

There were far too many people.

He would never be able to get in there and grab her without making a huge scene about it and that was something he didn't want to do. He didn't want to do that to her. He didn't want to make things worse for her.

Igneel sighed and ran a hand through his spiky hair, grasping the red strands and giving them a hard tug for good measure because what he was about to do could very well get him in trouble with his family, his boss, and everyone in the bar he was looking at. There was also the added fact that _she_ could hate him forever.

"You sure you want to go through with this?" A voice spoke up from his right catching his attention.

Igneel turned his head and met Macao's worried gaze. The red haired man looked away from his friend's eyes, his _partner's_ eyes, as if they were burning him. Just like fire. "It's the only choice I have Macao," he grumbled out, hating the words he was saying, but holding even more hate for what he was going to be doing in the next few minutes, "There's no other way to protect her," he nearly winced at the sentences spilling out of his mouth.

Because, really? Was what he was about to do right? There was a large possibility that what he was going to do would only cause more trouble.

Macao snorted. "Don't you dare say this is your only choice," he hissed before spitting on the ground once. "This whole plan of yours can easily go up in flames." He sighed, "Things like this don't just go away, and you might ruin her entire future." Macao turned so that he was looking at him again, eyes cold.

Igneel's lips curled back in a snarl and he glared right back at the other man. "Her dying might ruin her future too," he snapped.

He couldn't let her die. Not now. Not ever. He was going to protect her and god dammit if this was the way to do it then so be it!

Macao shook his head. "You don't know that she's going to die though."

Igneel rounded on the man, "You sound just like Jose." Macao tensed and Igneel sighed, "What do you want me to do Macao? Take that chance and let her get hurt?" He shook his head. "I would never be able to forgive myself."

Macao shrugged and took a step forward. "Do what you want then. But if something goes wrong don't blame this on me."

Igneel smiled, "I won't." He stretched his arms out high above his head before pushing open the doors to Fairy Tail and stepping into the bar. "Now let's go get this over with."

Unlike normal days where he had to go to Fairy Tail to break up a brawl or the less frequent occasions where he stopped by for a drink he was there for an entirely different reason.

Igneel caught sight of the person he was looking for straight away. She was walking by with a tray that had empty beer mugs stacked on top of it.

She smiled when she saw him and that made Igneel feel even worse about what he was going to do.

She made a quick turn and, instead of heading over to the bar, headed straight for Igneel and Macao.

"Hey Igneel," she smiled at him, "Mr. Conbolt," she nodded at Macao.

Macao cleared his throat, refusing to meet her gaze. "Hey Lucy."

Lucy noticed the tense atmosphere straight away. Not that that really surprised Igneel. Lucy had always been rather sharp when it came to peoples' emotions. "How's Romeo?" She whispered to Macao, immediately thinking that something was wrong with the man's twelve year old son.

"Good," Macao swallowed, "He's good. He misses you."

She smiled softly and looked away from them, "I miss him too." Just like with Wendy, Lucy would also babysit Macao's son Romeo. Lucy looked back up after a moment and stared at the two men. "Is there a specific reason you two are here?" She asked. "I mean, it's not that I don't like seeing you guys, but you're in uniform, probably on the job, and there's no brawl here." She looked at the two men, nervousness starting to creep up her spine.

Something was wrong.

Something was _very_ wrong.

Igneel winced at the question. How was he supposed to answer that? How was he supposed to explain the situation without her getting mad at him? How was he supposed to go through with this? This was all so messed up and he had no idea if what he was doing was right or wrong. Of course he had tried to trick himself into believing it was for the best, that this was to help her and she would thank him for it later. She would thank him later, right?

Igneel glanced at Macao, silently asking the other man for help, but Macao shot him a dirty look that practically screamed "_you're on your own_!" and then looked away from him.

Igneel sighed under his breath and sent the blonde a look of remorse. "Lucy Heartfilia," he coughed, looking at the ground for a moment and then meeting her eyes. "You're under arrest," his voice cracked on the last word.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered out.

"I'm sorry Lucy," he murmured to her. Igneel looked away from her and noticed the same blond man from the last time he was at Fairy Tail. Laxus was pushing his way through the crowd of people in the bar trying to come to Lucy's aid. Igneel glanced at Lucy, noticing the fact that she had also seen the other man. "You have the right to remain silent." He pulled out his handcuffs and tightened them around her wrists while she was still too shocked to say anything. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right-." She cut him off.

"Laxus," she shouted to the other boy who was still trying to make his way over to her. "I'll be fine! Go tell Makarov what's going on!" With that being said she let Igneel lead her out of the bar and over to his police cruiser waiting right outside of the bar.

She let him push her into the back part of the car, still too shocked to try and fight him about it. Because, really, why the hell was she being arrested? She had never broken the law. She didn't drink, she didn't steal, and she wasn't doing anything _wrong_.

She had been happy to see both Igneel and Macao. She really had been, and now she was being arrested? What the hell was going on?

Dammit! She knew something was wrong as soon as they had walked in! They were both acting nervous and they had absolutely no reason to be there! Well, apparently they did have a reason to be there and that reason was _her_.

The first thing that came to mind after her small breakdown was the fact that she was probably going to fired because, not only had she been arrested, no, she was arrested while she was on the job because god dammit Igneel couldn't wait until she was off the clock to arrest her, or, better yet, not arrest her at all!

The second thing that came to mind was Natsu.

Did he know that this was going to happen? If he did know than she was going to kill him. Then again if he didn't know then how was he going to react? Would he want to date a criminal? Scratch that this was Natsu; he was a borderline criminal himself, besides he was also her best friend and she knew that he wasn't going to leave her over something as trivial as this. She was just going to have to call him and explain in great detail _what the fuck was going on_!

She nearly hissed at Igneel when he entered the car.

Macao was nowhere to be seen.

Igneel buckled himself in and glanced at her in the rearview mirror as he started to drive away. "Lucy you have to believe me when I say I'm so incredibly sorry about this."

"Sorry?" She nearly laughed at him. "Igneel you just arrested me! What the hell is going on!?" She was scared. She was so god damn scared right now and it wasn't even funny.

He shot her a sad look. "Lucy you need to trust me, okay?" She was about to snap at him when he held up a hand. "I know you're angry and you're probably confused, but I swear I'll explain everything." He was speaking in a rush.

She didn't say anything for a long moment.

Why on earth was he doing this?

She decided to ask her question out loud.

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered to him, leaning forward in her seat to try and catch his eye.

He made a show of keeping his gaze away from her. "Minors are not allowed to serve alcohol." He swallowed thickly. That was probably the worst excuse he could possibly come up with, but at least she knew he was lying now.

"Bullshit," she scoffed. He glanced at her then in the mirror, sending her a reprimanding look because of her choice in words. "If that's what this was really about then you would have done something about it when I started working there when I was fifteen." She stared at the back of his head pointedly. "You've been in there well I was working plenty of times, hell I've even served you a few drinks every so often, but you never had any problem with it until now," she sighed." So I'll ask you once again." Lucy glared at Igneel, "Why are you doing this?"

He glanced at her, "You're playing with a madman Lucy. Sooner or later your luck has to run out."

"So your solution is to arrest me?" She practically snarled at him. This was great. Just fucking great. How the hell was she supposed to explain this to people in the future? My boyfriend's father, who is also a cop, decided to arrest me because some crazy man may or may not be trying to kill me. Yeah, she was definitely going to get into a great college using that one. She glared at him again.

He met her eyes, "Don't give me that look! I'm trying to help you here." He grinned at her. "Besides if everything works out no one will ever know about this anyway."

Did he seriously just suggest what she thought he was suggesting?

She blinked at him. "Did you just tell me you were going to use your power as an officer of the law to make it seem like this never happened?" She questioned him.

He gave her the exact same smile that Natsu always used on her. "I don't know. Did I?"

She nearly laughed at that. Nearly. The gravity of the situation was far too tense for her to laugh at that moment. She really never should have gotten out of bed that morning. She should have just stayed asleep. Lucy dropped her head into, still cuffed, hands, wishing she could just go back in time and stop Igneel from getting the incredibly stupid idea he was now acting upon.

Lucy sighed and pulled her head back out of her hands, looking at Igneel once again. If she was heading to jail she had one thing she needed to do. "Do I at least get a phone call?" She asked him, praying he would say yes. She needed to tell a certain someone what was going on and, hopefully, that certain someone would be able to help her in some way.

Igneel looked back at her, trying to hold back his smile. "Maybe."

**~The Raven~**

"Come on Natsu," she hissed, "Pick up the god damn phone." She was sick of hearing the phone ring. She was absolutely _sick_ of it. It was times like this that Lucy would think about life and wish she had never gotten out of bed that morning.

She shot a glare at Igneel from the corner of her eye. Why in the world would he think it was a good idea to _arrest_ her? There was also the question of _why the hell_ she was using her _one phone call_ on his son? Natsu probably wasn't even going to pick up the phone and then she would be screwed and know one would know where she was- okay so a few people knew where she was, but that wasn't the point- and who knows how long she would be sitting in a cell.

Lucy was about ready to give up and slam the phone back where it belonged when someone actually answered the phone. "_Hello_?" A young, female voice asked.

"Wendy?" Lucy whispered. This was not the Dragneel she was looking for, but it was close enough. "Wendy, its Lucy."

"_Lucy_?" The little girl questioned softly, "_What's wrong Lucy_?"

Lucy smiled softly at the little girl's question; Wendy was probably the sweetest girl she had ever met. She shook her head. This was not the time to be thinking about something like that. "Nothings wrong sweetheart," she murmured gently, "Can you go get your brother for me?"

There was a happy "yes!" and then Wendy's voice was gone and a deeper, masculine voice replaced it.

"_Lucy_?"

She didn't know why she did it, honestly she didn't know.

She smiled.

Natsu's voice just did that to her. No matter what the situation was, no matter how bad things were, he brought a smile to her face. "Hey Natsu," she breathed out.

There was a slight pause and the sound of a timer going off. Was he eating? Here she was sitting in a precinct and he was eating. Then again, when wasn't he eating? She nearly laughed out loud before realizing it would be inappropriate for the situation.

"_What's up_?" He asked her, sounding completely nonchalant about the fact that she was calling him from a number that was obviously not her own.

She coughed nervously. This was not going to be a smooth talk. "Well," she started, "Remember how you told me to call you if something happened?" She questioned him.

"_Yeah_?" He said, sounding incredibly tense. Maybe she shouldn't have worded it like that.

"Something happened," she deadpanned, waiting for the explosion that was soon to follow.

"_What_?" He nearly screamed into the phone, voice rising to levels that it shouldn't have been. "_What happened_?" He barked at her. "_Are you okay_?"

They were all going to sit back and laugh at this one day. They were all going to sit back, laugh, and then tease her about it.

"I'm fine," she said, trying to calm him down. "Actually you're probably going to laugh at this and-."

"_Lucy_," he growled at her and she flinched at the tone. "_What happened_?" He ground out between what she assumed was clenched teeth.

She swallowed and then-, "I'm in jail," she managed to spit out. There was a strange clattering noise that confused her before she realized he had actually dropped the phone. There was a curse and then the sound of someone picking up the phone and taking in a deep breath.

"_What-_?" He cut himself off and didn't say anything for a long moment. She glanced at Igneel and saw him tap his wrist; she only had so much time left. Going back to the conversation at hand she willed Natsu to just _say something_! She heard him take in a shaky breath. "_Excuse me_?" He whispered.

She was tempted to slam her head against the wall. "I'm in jail," she repeated. Slower that time.

"_Why_?" He asked her just as slowly.

Well Natsu, let's think about this for two seconds…

Lucy sighed, "Your father arrested me," she deadpanned, deciding it was better to just tell it to him straight up. If she gave him too many details he would be lost, but if she tried to sugar coat it he wouldn't understand.

Natsu let out an angry hiss, "_He did what_?!" He nearly screamed the words at her and she had to move the phone away from her ear to avoid any damage from the loud noise.

Lucy looked over at Igneel, silently asking him for help, to which he walked over to her and pulled the phone from her grasp, talking to Natsu himself. "Natsu calm down." She couldn't hear the other male's response, but judging from the grimace on Igneel's face it wasn't something good. "No, she's fine, she's not in trouble." She sighed as Natsu shouted something back at Igneel. "I promise I'll explain later. I'm going to be home in about twenty minutes okay?" Wait what? He was leaving her here? "Watch Wendy. I'll be home soon." Igneel put down the receiver a moment later and immediately turned to her. "I can ex-!"

"You're going to leave me here!" She hissed at him. "You're just going to leave me here?" She had to fight back the tears that threatened to spill over.

Igneel pulled her into a hug. "I'm going to be back," he whispered. "I'll be gone an hour tops. And someone will still be here with you, okay?" After a second of hesitation she nodded. "I'm going to come back and get you right after that and I'll bring Natsu with me." She nodded again and he released her. "God he's going to give me an earful when I get home." She laughed softly.

"You deserve it." She murmured.

He chuckled and patted the top of her head before grabbing a hold of her arm and leading her over to one of the small cells in the precinct. He opened the barred door and, hesitantly, she stepped inside. She turned around and glanced around the room, noticing a blond man sitting at a desk a few feet away from the cells. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses so she couldn't see his eyes and at first she thought he might have been asleep.

That thought was shattered as he smiled at her lewdly his head moving to one side and she could only assume that he was letting his eyes rake across her body.

A disgusted look must have flashed over her face or maybe she flinched because Igneel turned around and glared at the other man, crossing the distance between the two his hand shot out and he wacked the other man's head hard enough for him to feel it, but not hard enough for it to really hurt.

The blond man cursed and grabbed a hold of his glasses before they flew off his face. "Ouch! What was that for!?" The man cried out.

Igneel sighed and shook his head. "Just watch her until I get back." He glanced at her over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a bit Lu." She nodded and he turned back to the other man. "Zancrow," he barked.

"What?" The other man- Zancrow- whined.

Igneel shot him a stern look. "She's my future daughter-in-law," Lucy blushed at that, "So keep your hands to yourself."

Zancrow waved him off but then smirked, "No promises," he grinned at her.

She shot him a venomous look.

Igneel smacked him again. "Lucy if he touches you, tell me when I get back, okay? I'm sure Natsu would have no problem ripping him apart." She nodded and Igneel left.

**~The Raven~**

It had been nearly fifteen minutes since Igneel had left and she was beginning to hate this Zancrow person. He had kept his promise to Igneel about not touching her, but he had never promised not to make a pass on her.

So here she was, stuck in a prison cell, a perverted cop- or secretary or what ever the hell he was- flirting with her and cracking dirty jokes every couple of minutes.

Fucking wonderful.

"Hey Blondie!" Zancrow shouted at her. She glanced over at the blond man but didn't say a word. "What are you in here for?" He asked her.

She ignored him.

The blond male repeated himself, but when she didn't answer he huffed and turned away from her a large smirk crawling across his face.

It was disgusting.

Lucy was so bored at that point she was occupying herself by untying and then retying her shoes.

Yeah. So much fun.

She really couldn't wait for Igneel to get back so she could give him a piece of her mind. Because, for god's sake, why the hell would he leave her alone with this guy? Why not Macao?

"Hey Blondie," he called out to her again. She was so tired of his incessant attempts to start a conversation with her that she finally gave in. If it would get him to leave her alone later she would talk to him for a few minutes until he _shut the hell up_.

Her head snapped over to his direction and she threw daggers at him with her eyes, hoping he would get the message and _leave her alone_. She released a heavy sigh and met his eyes. Or she would have if he wasn't still wearing the glasses. She forced a smile. "What?" She hissed out between clenched teeth.

He smirked at her _again_, infuriating her even more. Seriously? What was up with the god damn smirk? What he said next made her want to rip it off of his face.

"You shoving your tongue down Detective Dragneel's throat?" He said, smirk still firmly in place.

She was going to kill him. She was going to kill him, bury him in her backyard, and then she was going to spit on his grave.

She shook away her murderous thoughts and instead settled with a vicious "fuck no". She growled at him lowly, "I'm dating his son," she spat at him. Probably not the best thing to say, but oh well.

She thought he stiffened for a moment, but it must have just been her imagination. It was his next action that irked her.

He laughed at her. He actually laughed at her as if what he had said wasn't offensive in any way whatsoever. "I wouldn't mind if you shoved your tongue down my throat," he said seductively, or, it was supposed to sound seductive. All she heard was a disgusting drawl of words that held no importance to her.

Dear God she wanted to hit him.

She glared at him for a moment and then smiled at him sweetly. "How about I shove my _foot_ up your _ass_ instead?" She snarled.

His grin only grew. "Feisty," he chuckled. "I like that."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Go to hell," she spat.

He didn't reply to her and she was thankful for that. She had met a lot of pricks working at Fairy Tail (Sting and the other Sabertooth boys). She had also met a lot of players while working at Fairy Tail (Her friend Loke), but none of them were as bad as this Zancrow person. Fuck, she would rather be stuck in a room alone with Sting Eucliffe than him!

At least Sting had come into Fairy Tail that day and apologized to her for what he had done. Heck, she had even given him advice on how to ask out this girl named Yukino!

That's how much Zancrow was pissing her off.

She couldn't wait until Igneel got back so that she could give him a piece of her mind. She also couldn't wait for Natsu to get here because… well, oh screw it. She was scared. There was some unknown guy after her for some unknown reason and the only person she had to protect her was Zancrow? Really?

At least with Natsu and Igneel there she would know that she really was safe.

But no. She was stuck with the flirty parasite.

"You know… I want to thank you."

Lucy looked up and turned her head to face him, a questioning look on her face. "Excuse me?" She hissed. He wanted to thank her for something? She didn't even know this guy!

He got up and moved so that he was standing directly in front of her little cell, gesturing for her to move closer to him. She really didn't want to be anywhere near him, but she complied, because he was a cop and who knew what would happen if she didn't listen to what he said.

So, with a sigh, she got up from her spot on the floor and moved so that she was standing, facing him. She gave him an expectant look, gesturing with her hands for him to tell her whatever it was he needed to say so that she could go back to sitting in the corner ignoring him.

He slipped the sunglasses off of his face and shoved them in his pocket, keeping his eyes closed as he did so. "I want to thank you," he whispered, leaning closer to her. He waited a moment and Lucy was just about to ask him what he was talking about when his eyes snapped open and his hand shot through the steel bars of the cell, snaking around her neck.

Before she could cry out he had already jerked her forward, slamming her head against the bars and leaving her disoriented.

He repeated he motion several more times and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the vibrant red color of his eyes.

He finished his sentence from earlier just before he dropped her to the ground and she passed out.

"Thank you for giving me a name."

**~The Raven~**

**AN: That was the longest chapter I have ever written in the shortest amount of time. Congrats GunnerPuppy on guessing who The Raven was! **

**You guys can checkout the one-shot written for them, it's called **_**Natural Disasters**_**. It's a Jerza one-shot.**

**Here were the guesses for who The Raven was.**

**Dan Straight- 5**

**Loke- 4**

**Sting- 4**

**Rogue- 4**

**Zeref- 3**

**Zancrow- 1 (Sort of two is I include someone who guessed twice.)**

**Max- 1**

**Jet- 1**

**Makarov- 1**

**Ivan Dreyar- 1**

**Midnight- 1**

**Gajeel- 1 (Seriously you guys? Gajeel?)**

**Cobra- 1**

**Lucy's Father- 1**

**Some guesses were better than others. But thank you to everyone who took a guess! Actually big thanks to everyone who reviewed! If only I could get the same amount of reviews on my one-shots :D**

**It's your reviews that make me so excited to write the next chapter!**

**Speaking of which, I don't know when exactly I'll be done with the next chapter.**

**Love and Always,**

**~Rivendell**


	11. What Was Wrong is Right

**The Raven**

**Chapter Eleven: What Was Wrong is Right**

When Lucy woke up several hours later she had a killer headache.

The first thing she noticed was that she was not where she was supposed to be.

The second thing she noticed was that there was blood dripping into her eyes.

Why was blood dripping into her eyes? Was she hurt somewhere? How had she gotten hurt in the first place? Was it even her own blood? Where was she?

She winced and, with a groan, tried to roll onto her side, moving a hand up to touch her forehead. She pulled back with a hiss, pain spreading through her body. One glance at her hand showed her that, yes it was her blood, and, yes she was hurt somewhere, but, no, she didn't know how she had gotten hurt or where she was.

Her automatic guess was that she had pissed off her father again.

No, that wasn't right. She hadn't even seen her father since before Gray had been shot at. She hadn't heard anything from her father, heck she didn't even know if he was still in Magnolia. Or alive for that matter. Not that it really made a difference to her. He _was not_ her family. He had never been her family and he never would be. So it wasn't her father.

Her second guess was that there had been another brawl at Fairy Tail.

That was a logical guess; the bar was a magnet for trouble, attracting at least one fight every few days, sometimes more. She wasn't exactly a stranger to having chairs launched at her head or the occasional body of Elfman slamming into her from out of nowhere (which hurt like hell by the way). Yeah, that was it. There was probably just a fight and she had been knocked out. But, no, that wasn't it either. She had distinctly remembered leaving the bar, she couldn't quite remember _why_ she left of _where_ she had gone but she had left. Plus if she had been hurt in a bar fight she doubted that she would be lying on the floor bleeding. Someone would have helped her. _Laxus_ would have helped her. So, no, she wasn't in a bar fight.

Her third guess was probably her worst.

Her third guess was that Natsu had finally snapped and wacked her upside the head a few times.

It was bound to happen at some point. Natsu had a temper that was both short and explosive. If she had done something to piss him off and things had gotten way out of hand he might have hit her without really meaning to. If her memory served her correctly she had said something to him about… Sleeping with Bixlow? That could have pissed him off enough to hit her. Fuck she should smack herself for saying something stupid like that. That wasn't right though. Natsu would _never_ hurt her. She thought that a lot, but it was true. Natsu may have been brash and temperamental and _violent_, but he was loyal and kind and one of the most gentle people she had met when it came down to it. Natsu hadn't hit her.

Maybe she had gotten attacked on her way home? No, wait, she never finished her shift. She never left work.

Or did she?

You know what; maybe she was abducted by aliens!

Lucy chuckled at her ridiculous thought and _tried_ to sit up.

The key word there being "tried".

As soon as she had managed to peel her face off of the ground- she was lying on her stomach and blood was coating most of the right side of her face, which was currently pressed against the floor- her head started to spin and she felt vomit rise up in her throat.

She wanted to stand up.

She wanted to get to her feet.

She wanted to walk this off and figure out what the hell was going on.

Deciding that she was not going to sit here and be helpless Lucy grit her teeth and pushed herself up onto her feet, swaying dangerously for a moment before gaining her footing and glancing around, bringing her back to one of her earlier questions.

Where the hell was she?

From the looks of it she was in a basement, but not the basement of anyone she knew. Well, unless one of her friends had moved within the past few days, knocked her out, kidnapped her, and decided to fuck with her for awhile.

Unlikely.

Her brow knitted together as she started to unscramble her thought, trying to remember what had happened.

She had woken up early that morning, talked to Wendy and Natsu, the girls had cornered her, Natsu had taken her to work, Laxus had found out she and Natsu were dating, Igneel had arrested her-.

Igneel had arrested her!

Fuck!

Everything started to come back to her.

Igneel had arrested her to try and keep her safe (Because that worked out _so well_), and then he had left her with the creepy cop named Zancrow who wouldn't stop flirting with her and making sexual comments, and then Zancrow had smashed her head against the cell bars and all she could see was his red eyes and he had thanked her for giving him a name and-.

Her blood ran cold.

Zancrow was the one who had killed those girls.

He had _shot_ Gray.

She was going to _kill_ him.

Lucy glanced around the basement, looking for a door or a window or _something_ that she could use to get out of here. There were no windows, which might explain why it was so damn dark, and there wasn't much of anything in the room, well, nothing she could see anyway. She didn't want to start stumbling around in the dark when she had no idea what might be in the surrounding area, but there was a door. A door! She bolted towards the hard wood object; nearly toppling over because of what she could assume was blood loss.

She grasped the doorknob in her hand and gave it a hard tug, twisting it.

Nothing happened.

"Dammit!" She hissed, her voice sounding oddly loud in the otherwise silent room. Why wouldn't the damn door open?

She heard someone snort behind her and she froze.

"Did you honestly believe I would leave the door unlocked?" A voice teased from behind her, laughing as they said it.

Her eyes narrowed and she whipped around, glaring at the man that was the cause of all of her current problems. "I believe you would do something that stupid, so, yeah," she snarled at him. She probably shouldn't have been so snippy. This guy had already killed people. If she wasn't careful she could very well become just another bloodstain.

"Ouch," he put a hand over his heart in mock pain, "That hurts sweetheart!"

"Don't call me 'sweetheart'," she snapped back at him.

He took a step closer to her, moving into the light, and she got a better look at him.

He sort of, as bad as it sounded, looked like Gajeel.

He wasn't as tall as her dark haired friend. His hair was blond, not black and his face was void of all piercings. They both had red eyes, though, in her opinion, Gajeel's eyes were a much prettier shade. Dear God, her friend would kill her if she ever told him he had pretty eyes.

Lucy shook her head; she was getting way off track. How was she even able to think about the color of Gajeel's eyes (and how pretty they were) while some psychotic man was standing several feet away from her after bashing her head in and kidnapping her?

The realization hit her hard.

It's because he was like her father.

Sure her father hadn't killed anyone, but he had beaten her to the brink of unconsciousness, brought her back, and then beat her again. All she was to these two men was some sort of play thing to be used for there enjoyment.

She could deal with that.

"So ill-tempered," he chided her, a smug smile spreading over his face.

She was done letting men like her father and Zancrow push her around. He could do whatever he wanted to her, but she wouldn't let him reach his real goal.

She wouldn't let him break her.

"What do you want with me Zancrow?" She spat, pure venom dripping from her tongue.

He didn't answer her for a long moment, only stared at her. He took his time in letting his eyes (definitely _not_ like Gajeel's) rake over her body, causing her to shudder slightly at the disgusting look he was giving her. He flashed her a grin that was all white teeth and sharp canines and she was beginning to think he hadn't heard her when he took another step towards her and started to speak. "Are you afraid?" He questioned her.

Her eyes narrowed into thin slits, "No," she was surprised by the truth of that one word. She _wasn't_ afraid. Not of him. Not of dying. "I'll ask you one more time Zancrow," his name was like acid on her tongue, it left a bad taste in her mouth. She took a step towards him, her eyes meeting his. "What do you want with me?"

He smirked, "All in due time sweetheart."

She didn't know when he had gotten in front of her, but he had. The next thing Lucy knew his fist was slamming into her jaw and her head was snapping around so fast that she knew that she was going to have whiplash later.

The second blow was a kick to her stomach that had her doubling over in pain, a small cry coming from between her lips.

He stopped whatever it was he was planning on doing at the sound of pain that flew from her lips without her permission. His head cocked to the right and a miniscule smile formed on his face. "I like that sound… Why don't we try and make it again?"

Before she had time to react he had already slammed his fist into her jaw, a foot launching out and sweeping her feet out from under her. She bit her tongue to stop herself from crying out when her head smashed against the concrete floor.

She was not going to give him the satisfaction of making her cry out a second time. She was not going to let him win.

Without a second thought she pushed herself back onto her feet, standing up on shaky legs that threatened to give out. Without really realizing what she was doing she had already met his eyes and sent him a large grin. "You hit like a little girl," she barked at him, letting out a strangled sound of amusement.

That pissed him off. She didn't even have time to blink before she was on the ground again, blows raining down over her face and torso, arm twisting at an awkward angle under a heavy foot, more blood spilling over her face after a well placed kick that may or may not have broken her nose. And let's not forget the hand that wrapped around her neck like a snake and squeezed until she started to turn different shades of blue.

She didn't make a sound.

"Why don't you scream for me sweetheart?" He asked her, sounding significantly less friendly than he had before, crouching down so that he could lean over her body, a sick smile spreading over his face. He caressed her face and she flinched away from him. She coughed up what she thought was blood and he moved closer to her. "Maybe a kiss instead?"

She ripped her head away from his hand and spat in his face, enjoying every second of his dumbfounded expression. What he did next made her blood freeze in her veins.

He chuckled.

He fucking _laughed_!

Then he smiled at her, "Now you just made things a hell of a lot worse for yourself."

**~The Raven~**

Natsu dropped his head into his hands as he flopped down onto the couch. It had been three days since Lucy had disappeared. It had been three _god damn days_ and no one had any clue where she was or what had happened to her. _He_ had no clue where she was or what had happened to her. She could be hurt- he had to remind himself that, yes, she was hurt. There had been a small puddle of blood in the cell that she had been in- or worse. She could be dead- he didn't even want to _think_ about her being dead so he banished the thought from his mind before it could manifest- or worse.

He was so out of it that he didn't realize that Gajeel and Jellal had sat down next to him until Gajeel set a heavy hand on his shoulder.

With a defeated look Natsu turned to face his two friends- Gray wasn't there because he was currently under house arrest after what had happened to him just over a week ago- and met Gajeel's eyes.

"They'll find her Salamander," Gajeel spoke with such confidence that Natsu almost believed him.

Almost.

"And what if they don't Gajeel?" Natsu asked him. "What if they don't find her? Or worse, what if they do find her and it's too late?" He was on a roll now, all of his fears lying out flat on the table for his friends to see. "What if they find her and I can't touch her anymore because she's afraid of me? What if-?"

Gajeel grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly, making the salmon haired boy stop talking. "They'll find her," Gajeel promised. "And she'll be okay, because this is Bunny Girl and she can take everything life throws at her."

Natsu winced. "And what if she's not okay?" He asked the other man.

"Then we step in," Jellal whispered. "We stand by her until she _is_ okay."

Both of Natsu's friends were looking at him with such heartbreaking honesty and trust in Lucy that he was ashamed that he was doubting her.

"Thanks guys," he whispered, "It's just," he swallowed, "The last thing I did was scream at her over the phone." Natsu closed his eyes, trying and failing to block out the memory from three days earlier.

_The phone was ringing._

_That was the first thing he noticed after he put his bagel in the microwave._

_ Natsu sighed and started to make his way over to the living room and the- still ringing- phone. By the time he got over to the offending object Wendy had already reached it._

_ Wendy picked up the phone and brought it to her ear, chirping out a friendly "hello?" Natsu couldn't hear what the person on the other end said, but whatever it was it made Wendy frown. He was going to give the person on the phone a piece of his mind. "Lucy?" Or… maybe not. It would probably be a bad idea to give his girlfriend a piece of his mind. She would take that piece of mind and crush it mercilessly. "What's wrong Lucy?" That got his attention. Was something wrong? _

_ Natsu was so caught up in his thoughts that be barely registered the fact that Wendy said something else to Lucy, because the next thing he knew Wendy was practically shoving the phone in his face before running away giggling._

_ Natsu took a deep breath through his nose before bringing the phone to his ear. "Lucy," he nearly breathed out her name. But that was sappy and if anyone ever asked him about it he would firmly deny everything._

_ He couldn't keep the smile off of his face when he heard her voice. "_Hey Natsu._"_

_ Natsu was just about to respond when a timer when off. Fuck, his bagel! Well, maybe it should be more like "fuck his bagel!" but that wasn't the point. His girlfriend was way more important than a bagel. He just needed to act calm. Maybe she hadn't even heard the timer go off. "What's up?" He asked, trying to be casual even though he was secretly freaking out because why was she calling him? _

_ He heard her cough and then she started to speak, "_Well_…" She sort of trailed off there and he felt his heart clench. _Was_ something wrong? "_Remember how you told me to call you if something happened_?"_

_ If there was ever an instant when his heart would just cease to beat it was right then. "Yeah," he managed to chock out the one word._

_ "_Something happened_," she deadpanned._

_ "What?" He barked, nearly screaming into the phone. He noticed Wendy was still there and tried to lower his voice, "What happened? Are you okay?" He was being stupid, firing off more questions before she could answer the first one, but he had to know that she was okay._

_ "_I'm fine_," she insisted. She was trying to calm him down, but the slight waver in her voice nearly made him explode. She was not _fucking_ fine. She laughed nervously, "_Actually you're probably going to laugh at this and_-."_

_"Lucy," her name came out as nothing but a snarl and he heard her let out a small sound of something like fear that immediately had him backing off a little. He clenched his teeth. "What happened?"_

_ "_I'm in jail_."_

_ He dropped the phone._

_ Whatever it was he had been expecting, that wasn't it, it wasn't even close. Actually that had been the last thing that he would expect her to say. Not even the last, because if it was the last thing he was expecting that would mean it had crossed his mind. _

_ Which it hadn't._

_ "Shit," he swore under his breath as he lifted the phone off of the ground and back up to his ear. "What-?" He stopped. What was he supposed to say to that? Maybe he heard her wrong! "Excuse me?"_

_ "_I'm in jail_." So he hadn't heard her wrong. Great._

_ "Why?" That was probably a good thing to ask! Maybe…_

_ He heard her sigh and then-, "_Your father arrested me_." That's fucking lovely._

_ Natsu hissed. "He did what?" He tried not to shout, really he did. It just… didn't work._

_ "_Natsu calm down_," a voice pleaded. That was not the voice he wanted to hear right now. That was not _her_ voice._

_ "I won't fucking calm down! What the hell happened to her? Did something happen?" He was going to be in so much trouble for swearing at his father, but at this point he really didn't give a damn._

_ "_No, she's fine, she's not in trouble_," his father promised._

_ Natsu let out a sigh of relief, "Dammit!" He shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. After a moment he lowered his voice. "Put Lucy back on the phone."_

_ His father ignored him._ _"_I promise I'll explain later. I'm going to be home in about twenty minutes okay_?"_

_ Natsu swallowed. "Dad, put Lucy back on the phone," he begged._

_ "_Watch Wendy. I'll be home soon_." _

_ Natsu cursed as the line went dead. He was just about ready to throw the phone in a fit of rage. And he would have done it too if Wendy hadn't stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his stomach._

_ "Natsu what's going on?" Wendy cried out, gripping onto him tightly._

_ Natsu felt his anger slip away. He couldn't be angry when Wendy was near him. "I don't know Wendy," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her in return. "I don't know." He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking slightly. As soon as he realized that fact confusion settled in. Why was he shaking? The more he thought about it the more he realized that he had an awful feeling about the entire situation._

_ "Is Lucy okay?" Wendy asked him._

_ Natsu smiled softly and pulled away from the little girl so that he could look her in the eyes. "Of course she's okay," he chided her. "This is Lucy we're talking about, right?"_

_ Wendy nodded once with a huge smile lighting up her face, and then ran out of the room shouting something about needing to grab something and leaving Natsu to flop down onto the couch._

_ And now?_

_Now Natsu was just supposed to sit around and wait for his idiotic father to get home and explain to him what the fuck was going on. Why the hell did he arrest Lucy in the first place?_

His eyes opened and he dropped his head into his hands waiting for Jellal or Gajeel to say something. Say _anything_. When neither of the other two made any move to speak Natsu continued what he had been saying earlier. "I was shouting at her," he laughed lightly. "Dammit, I should have told her I love her or _something_," He looked at his friends. "I should have said something…"

Gajeel put a hand on his arm. "You didn't know something was going to happen Natsu." The pink haired boy jolted at the use of his name, Gajeel hardly ever used his name.

That side thought aside, Natsu was pissed.

He was pissed at himself for not being able to protect her. He was pissed at the guy who had taken her. He was pissed at that guy Zancrow because he let her get hurt. And he was pissed at his father for arresting her and then just leaving her there. If he had have stayed there Lucy might still be okay (He used the term "okay" very loosely) and with him. Better yet, if his father hadn't have come up with the idea that arresting her would be a good thing none of this would have happened.

Jellal broke the small bout of silence that was beginning to smother them. "So…" he said slowly. "Have you spoken to your father yet?" He asked Natsu, nearly regretting the question when Natsu tensed.

"No," he hissed. "You know very well that we aren't on speaking terms right now." That was a cold, hard fact. After the two Dragneel men had made it back to the precinct only to find Lucy not there they had had something like a screaming match, both saying things that neither would ever repeat to anyone else.

"You have to talk to him sometime," Jellal reasoned.

"I know," Natsu whispered. "I just… can't face him right now without thinking it's his fault." Which was only semi true, sure his father had done something stupid that later led to Lucy being missing, but he didn't know that that was going to happen. "Even though it really isn't," he finished.

"Well, it sort of is his fault," Gajeel grumbled under his breath.

Jellal, having heard what Gajeel said glared at him. "Gajeel! That's not something you say to people!"

The taller boy immediately rounded on the blue haired one. "It's true though!" Gajeel snarled. "If Igneel hadn't have done something stupid, Lucy wouldn't be missing right now!" Natsu flinched at the word "missing".

"Igneel didn't know that that was going to happen," Jellal shot back. "And if he had known he never would have done what he did."

Gajeel shook his head. "That doesn't make things better," he spat. "It doesn't change the fact that no one knows where Bunny Girl is or if she's even alive!" Realizing what he said Gajeel turned to Natsu, who was shaking slightly, and murmured an apology before turning back to Jellal. "You heard what he did to those other girls Jellal," Gajeel whispered, not talking about Igneel anymore "What do you think he's going to do to Lucy?"

Jellal sighed, "I don't know," he swallowed. "I don't know what he might do to Lucy, but we need to do something about it," Jellal said with determination.

"Damn right we do," Gajeel nodded in agreement.

Natsu stared up at the two of them. "You can't seriously be implying what I think you're implying," Natsu assumed, "You can't be saying we should-."

A knock at the door cut him off.

**~The Raven~**

The second time Lucy woke up that day her headache was worse, there was _still_ blood dripping into her eyes, and she was tied to a chair.

Oh, and Zancrow was staring at her with the biggest smile she had ever seen on anyone. Well, maybe not Natsu, but he was in a whole different category, namely one that wasn't psychotic and didn't send shivers down her spine. Actually Natsu's grins did send shivers down her spine, but they were good shivers unlike the ones she got from Zancrow.

She tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry and she had no idea what to say. She tried a second time and found herself able to use her voice. "You won't get away with this."

Zancrow scoffed at her before laughing. "Why do you think that?" He was clearly amused by her assumption.

She licked her lips. "Igneel will stop you."

Zancrow made a small sound of amusement in the back of his throat. "Igneel is none the wiser. He has no idea that I'm involved." He smiled at her. "I'm going to get off scot-free."

She spat out the blood that had been collecting in her mouth, "What?" She chuckled. "You think that just because you're a cop you can get away with this?"

"Sweetheart," she snarled at him once more not to call her that and he ignored her. He leaned in incredibly close to her face. "It's because I _am_ a cop that I _will_ get away with this."

Lucy glared at him. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? She hated cryptic messages. She hated them so damn much. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Well, you see," he laughed. "I told Igneel exactly what had happened three days ago. I told a lot of people what happened two days ago."

So she had been unconscious for a few days. Well, that was assuming that Zancrow wasn't lying to her. Which he probably was…

"You mean you lied to them," she clarified, glaring at him. This conversation was going downhill rather quickly because, apparently, officers of the law are dumbasses! Seriously? How was it not suspicious that the cop that was supposed to watch her was miraculously knocked out and she was kidnapped while there were cameras in the room (probably disabled) during the exact hour or so Igneel was gone?

He shook his head. "Lying is such a crude term." He smiled brightly at her. "I merely gave them a push in the… wrong direction," he explained.

"Meaning… what exactly?" She asked him. She was a bit surprised that she was having an almost civil conversation with the man that had killed several women, brutalized her, and kidnapped her, but if it meant that she could get answers and possibly use them to get out of this mess then she would do what ever it took.

"Meaning I came up with an alibi." He smiled again and she wanted nothing more than to wipe the stupid thing off of his face for the rest of his life.

"Yes I know," she hissed at him. "You told me that already. You were 'unconscious'. What else?" She spat. She really needed to learn to watch her mouth around the men that had no qualms with smashing their fists against the sides of her face.

"My, my," he chastised. "You are quite the temperamental like thing aren't you?" He stroked a hand down the side of her neck in an affectionate way.

She scoffed. "I've been dealing with guys that had no issues with hitting me for nearly my entire life. You are no different," she growled out, proud at herself for not taking any of his bullshit.

She figured she must have pissed him off when his eyes flashed dangerously and his closed fist smashed against her jaw. "I'm plenty different," he snarled against her ear, letting his tongue flick out to swipe across her skin as he did so, making her shudder. "By the time I'm done with you won't know the difference between me and that little boyfriend of yours."

"You leave him out of this," Lucy hissed. "He has nothing to do with you."

Zancrow laughed. "He has more to do with this than you will ever know," he smiled against her skin, placing a light kiss on the soft skin of her throat much like Natsu had done several days earlier. "Everything that's wrong is about to become extremely right."

Her skin was crawling everywhere he touched her and all she wanted to do when this was over was peal her skin off so that every filthy place that he had and would later touch was gone. "Are you going to answer me or not?" She whispered, silently praying that he would just back away.

"Answer what?" He chuckled.

"You said you have an alibi," she murmured, incredibly irked by his show of "playing dumb"… not that he really needed to "play". Okay, that was a lie, he was actually incredibly smart. He knew to cover his tracks and twist everything out of shape so that he could get away with whatever it was he was trying to get away with. "What is it? Your alibi that is."

He smiled brightly against her skin. "It wasn't very hard to tell the others the description of the man that walked into the precinct, attacking me and rendering me unconscious when I tried so hard to protect you and then took you while I was knocked out."

She was confused for a moment and then the realization hit her and she couldn't help the small gasp that tore out of her throat. "You're going to frame someone," she breathed out.

He smiled and kissed her cheek, backing away from her a few inches, meeting her gaze with his own, "Correction," he held up a single finger, "I already have."

Lucy could only think of one word to say to him. "Who?"

**~The Raven~**

To be frank Igneel was having a shitty week.

He had accidently let the one girl he was trying to protect get kidnapped. Well, that wasn't exactly right. To say "accidently" would imply that it was something of little importance and, honestly, he knew several people who would kill him if he said that her being missing was "no big deal". He also hadn't "let" her get kidnapped. That had been a rather… large flaw in his plan to keep her safe.

Igneel could have slapped himself as he listened to his thoughts. His whole plan had been incredibly stupid and it was no wonder it had failed. He had paid a he price for his mistake. He just didn't think it would be Lucy. God dammit! He should have listened to Gildarts and Macao! Both of them had specifically told him to keep a close eye on her and that his plan was not a good one and what did he do? He went through with his plan and then he left. He left her in a jail cell for an hour with no way to defend herself and when he got back- with his _son_ none the less- she was gone and all that's left of her was a puddle of blood and a knocked out cop who had no idea what had happened to her.

That was lovely. That was just _fucking_ lovely!

And let's not forget the fact that his son refused to speak with him since the day she disappeared (He used the word "disappeared" very loosely. "Disappear" sounded too final. She hadn't just vanished out of thin air and he was sure as hell going to find her). Not that Igneel really blamed him. Natsu had always been fiercely protective of Lucy and now she was gone (missing, taken, kidnapped, whatever word works best) and it was Igneel's fault. Igneel could understand that. If anything were to ever happen to his wife because of someone's stupid mistake he would never forgive them. Never.

Then again the situation is a bit more complicated than that because this was him and his son and his son's girlfriend and some crazy man that had an unknown fascination with her.

No. Igneel couldn't blame his son for the way things had turned out.

He only had himself to blame.

And that might just have been the worst part of all.

His _job_ was to protect people. His _job_ was to save people. His _job_ was to make sure that nothing _fucking_ happened to the people that he made a promise to look after.

His self-appointed job had been to protect her, if only for a moment, and he couldn't even do that right!

She was hurt because he didn't think.

Plain and simple. He didn't _think._

Maybe if he had thought about it harder he wouldn't have arrested her.

Maybe if he had used some _fucking_ commonsense he wouldn't have left her alone with a greenhorn cop that didn't know how to handle one _fucking_ man.

Maybe if he had just driven a little faster he and Natsu would have gotten back to her in time.

Maybe if he had just let Natsu say goodbye to Lucy on the phone his son wouldn't be as angry as he was.

And maybe… maybe he should stop thinking about what he could have done and start working on a way to fix it. He needed to start working out a way to find her.

To _save_ her.

_Lucy glared at Igneel, "Why are you doing this?"_

_ He glanced at her, "You're playing with a madman Lucy. Sooner or later your luck has to run out."_

_ "So your solution is to arrest me?" She practically snarled at him._

He was right. Her luck _did_ run out, but it wasn't because of something she did.

"You need to stop moping. It's not good for your complexion," a man's voice penetrated his thoughts, practically tearing them apart. Igneel sighed as he recognized the irritating voice, looking up and placing the face with the name.

"Zancrow," Igneel forced a smile, secretly wishing his coworker would just leave. He wasn't on the best terms with Zancrow before this whole mess and with Lucy missing while Zancrow was supposed to be watching her Igneel's distaste for the man was tripled. "What a pleasure to see you," he let the sarcasm drip from his words like venom, hoping that Zancrow would realize it and _go away_.

No such luck.

Zancrow gave him a brief smile and planted his hands onto Igneel's desk, fingers splayed as if to take up as much room as possible. "I'm really sorry about what happened to that girl- what was her name? Lacy?-."

"Lucy."

"Lucy," the blond corrected himself. "I'm really sorry about that. Some guy came in asking for help and the next thing I knew you were shaking me awake on the floor asking me what had happened."

Igneel nodded at what the blond man said, not really caring about his excuses. He sighed. It wasn't Zancrow's fault either. The man had merely been a victim of circumstances. Zancrow hadn't been the one to take Lucy, Igneel was sure of that.

Zancrow just kept talking for several minutes, spouting off a bunch of useless encouragements and words of advice for the situation which had started nearly three days earlier. None of it was helping him in any way and he really just wanted to strangle the incompetent younger man, because, really? First he had- sort of- sexually harassed Lucy while Igneel was standing right there, then he had- also sort of- lost her, and now he was being a nuisance and not helping at all.

Igneel could have screamed. Really, he could have.

The situation was going from bad- could the kidnapping of someone close to him merely be considered "bad"- to worse.

Not only was Lucy missing, but he couldn't do anything about it. He wasn't allowed to. That was a firm rule. Detectives were not allowed to get involved with cases that hit close to home- something about the case being too personal.

So… that was another reason he was pissed. Lucy was missing, Zancrow was annoying and useless and Igneel wasn't allowed to do a damn about anything.

Igneel closed his eyes and sighed, letting himself think about the hour of time where he had been gone from the precinct. The one hour that had seemingly changed everything.

_Igneel had practically sped home, not even bothering to try and obey the speed limit- nor thinking about how embarrassing it would be to be pulled over by someone he knew. Lucy was angry with him and Natsu was (probably) angry with him and Igneel… Igneel wasn't sure what to feel._

_This whole thing was so confusing and he was starting to doubt that what he had done was right. Not just the fact that he had arrested Lucy, but also the fact that he had left her with Zancrow. The man was a pervert with no sense of respect for women, but (ultimately) he wasn't that bad. Igneel just had a really bad feeling that something bad was going to happen._

_He didn't have time to dwell on that thought though, because in the next moment he was pulling into the driveway and practically throwing the car door open, having to backtrack and turn off the car after momentarily forgetting to do so. He stalked over to the front door and slammed it open, barely registering the fact that the door made a loud banging noise as it smacked into the wall. _

_Igneel didn't even have the time to close the door before Natsu pounced on him._

_ Not literally of course._

_"What the hell were you thinking?" Natsu snarled at him, shaking the bigger man by his shoulders._

_Igneel swatted his son away, "I'm trying to protect her!" Natsu had never been up in Igneel's face the way he was right at that moment. Then again, Igneel probably should have seen it coming because of _what_ the situation was and _who_ was involved._

_"By arresting her?" Natsu snarled at him. "You do realize this sort of thing is permanent right? This will weigh over her for the rest of her life!" Natsu was practically screaming at him and, Igneel assumed, it had to do with the fact that he hadn't let Natsu say much to Lucy at the end of the conversation._

_ "Yes Natsu," Igneel sighed, "I do, in fact, know the consequences of what I've done."_

_"And yet you still did it," His son spat back at him. "Maybe instead of arresting her you should be working on finding the guy who's after her!" Natsu nearly screamed the words at him._

_"Natsu," Igneel barked. "You know what I said this morning. He is coming after her next." And that was true. She _was_ next and the first thing to come to mind was to arrest her, well, actually, his first thought had been to put her in protective custody, but _no_, Jose Porla had shot that plan out of the water. "Believe me, the last thing I want to do is get her in trouble, but if all of this works out the way I have it planned no one else will ever know about this."_

_Natsu backed away from him, exhaling through his nose. "Good to know that you're such a law abiding citizen." The younger man sighed and fell backwards onto the couch behind him. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I just- I'm worried about her."_

_Igneel smiled softly and sat down next to him. "And you think I'm not?" Igneel shoved his son playfully. "I just arrested my future daughter-in-law," Natsu's face turned the same color as his hair, "I wouldn't just do that for no reason."_

_Natsu nodded. Once, twice, a third time, and then lunged to his feet. "So she isn't hurt," Natsu clarified, "And she isn't in trouble." Igneel knew better than to think they were questions._

_"She's not hurt," Igneel promised. "Probably- well not probably- scared and a bit shaken up, but not hurt," He explained. Obviously she was scared. He had just left her in a jail cell with a person that she had never met (granted, he was a cop, but he was a pervert and Lucy had no clue who he was)._

_"Thank God," Natsu breathed out softly. "If she was hurt someone would have hell to pay." Igneel nodded in agreement._

_In Igneel's mind that was a great talk. No one had died, no punches had been thrown (not that he would ever hit his kid), and he had managed to calm Natsu down before anything had been damaged. Great talk…_

_"So, what do you say?" Igneel stared down at Natsu. "You want to go see your girlfriend?"_

_"Is that a rhetorical question?"_

_Igneel's brows shot up to his hair line. "I didn't think 'rhetorical' was part of your vocabulary."_

_ Natsu's lips twitched up into a smile as he lunged to his feet. "Can I go see my girlfriend now?" He asked, turning around to look at Igneel._

_As soon as he caught the look in his son's eyes Igneel froze. The anger from earlier was gone and all that was left was worry (not directed at Igneel) and affection (also not directed at Igneel). His son's love for the girl- literally- next door was painfully obvious. _

_He just hoped that Natsu could see it as well._

_ "You love her," Igneel murmured. "Don't you?" _

_Natsu didn't say anything to that, but the soft look in his eyes spoke volumes to Igneel. Yes, Natsu did love her and he probably always would. Well, Igneel hoped he always would. Although, knowing Natsu, he never would care about someone else on the same level as Lucy, because she was special to him and that's just how Dragneel men were. They were only able to be in love with one person in a lifetime. Nothing would ever change that._

_Igneel would later use this knowledge to tease his son mercilessly, but for now he would take his son to see the girl he was so worried about. _

_"Well," Igneel pushed himself to his feet and started to walk to the door. "Let's get going." When he didn't hear footsteps following his and an excited blob of pink didn't shove past him he stopped walking and turned around. "Are you coming?" Natsu stared at him expectantly. "Do you not want to see her?"_

_ Natsu's left hand shot up and he pointed at something to Igneel's right. "What about Wendy?"_

_ Oh, right, Wendy, his other child. Igneel blinked for a moment and then looked over at his blue haired daughter. "Wendy can stay here."_

_ Natsu shot him a look. "Wendy is eleven."_

_Igneel glared at his oldest child. "Wendy is a little girl. I'm not going to bring a little girl to the station."_

_ "You brought Lucy there."_

_"I'll be sure to tell Lucy you called her a little girl," Igneel told him dryly. "Wendy," he crouched down in front of the small girl, "Don't answer the door for anyone, don't answer the phone, and, most importantly," Igneel swallowed, "Don't tell Mom." Wendy giggled and threw her arms around her father, launching a similar hug onto Natsu a moment later, before running back up the stairs, shouting something about "saying hello to Lucy for her"._

_Igneel glanced at the clock on the wall; he had been home for nearly twenty minutes. It looked like he was right. He had told Lucy he would be back in an hour and as long as there wasn't a ton of traffic he would be back by the time the hour was up._

_"Come on," Igneel grabbed the hood of Natsu's sweatshirt and pulled it over his head, all but dragging him to the door. "Let's go." Natsu grumbled something under his breath but complied with his father's demand._

_"Alright, alright," Natsu swatted his father's hands away from him, pulling the hood off of his head as he opened the door to Igneel's car. He slammed the door shut behind him and turned to the man starting the car. "So, are you going to tell me the real reason you arrested Lucy?"_

_Igneel peeled his gaze away from the road for a moment. "I already told you, to protect her." His gaze snapped back to the road. "I'll tell you what I told her. She's gotten involved with a dangerous man and eventually her luck with violent people is going to run out."_

_"You mean her father," Natsu murmured. "Is that who you think is doing this?"_

_Igneel shook his head. "I don't have the faintest idea who is doing this, but it isn't her father." He glanced at Natsu again. "The night of the first murder he beat Lucy, didn't he?" Natsu looked away from him and nodded. "The murder happened almost directly after Lucy said she got home, so unless he can be in two places at once…"_

_"Gotcha," Natsu mumbled. "So you have nothing?"_

_Igneel's eyes narrowed. "No. Macao and I weren't even sure that the killer was male until Gray was shot at."_

_The rest of the ride was filled with silence._

_When they finally made it to the precinct Natsu all but jumped out of the still moving car. Actually he _tried_ to jump out of the still moving car. He would have made it too if Igneel hadn't grabbed onto the back of his sweatshirt and jerked him back inside the, still moving, car._

_"Natsu, do _not _jump out of my car while it's still moving!" Igneel cried out._

_"Then hurry up and park the car," His son shot back at him, leaping out of the car as soon as it stopped moving and bolting into the building in search of his girlfriend. Not that there were that many places she could be hiding…_

_ Igneel sighed as he watched his son run towards the building as if the devil itself was on his heels, for all Igneel knew maybe it was. The red haired man smiled as he got out of the car, shutting the door behind him. After a moment of just standing there he hurried after his son._

_The sight that he was met with when he made it to where Lucy and Zancrow had been was not what he had been expecting._

_ The cell door was open wide, carelessly thrown open in a rush; papers that were at one time on the desk that Zancrow had been at were strewn over the floor, some torn; Zancrow himself seemed to be missing, or at least out of sight; and Lucy… Lucy was gone._

_What… what had happened in the time that he had been gone? He had only been gone for an hour… only an hour and now… what had happened?_

_Natsu was just standing in front of the cell, staring at something Igneel couldn't see; maybe Igneel would never be able to see what his son was seeing. Maybe he would never want to._

_ Igneel started to walk towards Natsu, stopping when he caught sight of a body on the floor. "Zancrow," Igneel whispered, darting over to the fallen Officer. He dropped down onto his knees next to the blond man, checking him over for any injuries, not fining anything except for what looked like a nasty blow to the head. "Zancrow, can you hear what I'm saying?"_

_ The, previously unconscious, man blinked up at him. "What happened?" He winced as the light hit his eyes._

_ Igneel shook his head. "You're supposed to tell me." The other man's eyes knit together in thought as he tried to recall what had happened in the hour that Igneel was gone. _

_ Dammit! What the hell had happened here? Zancrow had been knocked out., everything was a mess, and Lucy was… Lucy was gone. She was just gone and _god dammit_ Igneel had brought her here to protect her! _

_Where the _fuck_ was she!?_

_ "Dad," Igneel turned back around at the sound of Natsu's voice. The look on Natsu's face nearly broke Igneel's heart into a thousand tiny pieces. Natsu was crying. Natsu was crying for the first time in nearly twelve years. The silence that followed Natsu's one word was the loudest thing Igneel had ever heard in his life. The pink haired boy's voice broke at the next thing he said._

_ "There's blood on the floor."_

Igneel cut away from his thought there.

He didn't want to think about the blood- her blood- that Natsu had found on the floor just inside the cell. He didn't want to think about that at all, because that meant that she had been hurt. She had been hurt and it was because he had brought her to that cell.

Igneel nearly laughed at that.

She might have had a fighting chance to get away if she hadn't been stuck in a fucking _cage_.

Because, really, that's what it was. He had locked her in a _cage_, promised her everything would be okay, he had _left her_, and now she was gone. She was gone…

Igneel sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He needed to calm down. Blaming himself for something he had no control over was not going to help the situation. He would need a level head to deal with this. Igneel's head snapped back up. This was why he wasn't allowed to partake in finding her. By God they were right… his personal feelings were clouding his judgment.

He sighed again, something he had been doing a lot lately. He needed to calm down. He needed to stop blaming himself and he needed to figure this situation out.

_ "You deserve it." She murmured._

Igneel froze. That's not how she had meant it. He shouldn't even be thinking about that. He shouldn't be thinking about what had happened. He shouldn't be thinking!

No- wait! He should be thinking! Thinking was a good thing! Thinking meant that he might be able to figure this thing out. But… he wasn't allowed to figure this one out; Jose Porla had made that incredibly clear. Igneel was not supposed to involve himself in- quote- "the disappearance of Lucy Heartfilia"-end quote-.

Igneel blinked stupidly for several moments. He really needed some sleep. He hadn't been getting much sleep for the past three days. Not that anyone else in his family had.

Wendy was confused. She really didn't understand what was going on other than the fact that Lucy was missing and no one knew where she was. The little girl _did not_ know about the fact that the man who took her had killed seven other women. She _did not_ know about the fact that there had been blood- her blood- on the ground in the last place she had been seen.

Grandine was worried. Lucy was like a daughter to both her and Igneel and now she was missing. When Igneel had explained what had happened just before Lucy was abducted- when Igneel had arrested her- Grandine had bluntly refused to talk to him for several hours and when she did- he cringed-. Igneel would not be forgetting that conversation for awhile.

And Natsu… Natsu was distraught to say the least. After the fight the two of them had had the same day Lucy disappeared the pink haired male had refused to say a word to his father, practically going out of is way to avoid him, only speaking with the female family members and Gajeel and Jellal.

Igneel knew exactly why Natsu wouldn't speak with him. That was the worst part. Not that his son wasn't talking to him, but the reason behind it.

If they never found Lucy or if they did and it was far too late… Natsu would have been denied the chance to say "goodbye" to her. Igneel had ripped the phone out of Lucy's grasp when she had been talking to Natsu and when Igneel had spoken to Natsu he had ignored the boy's pleas to _give her the phone_.

Igneel had denied Natsu the chance to say something to her and for that reason alone Igneel could not blame his son for not talking to him. He couldn't blame him because if someone had done that to him and it had been his wife on the phone- if it had been Grandine on the phone- Igneel would never be able to deal with that fact.

If Igneel could go back in time he wasn't sure what part he would change. There were so many little factors involved in the situation that just one little thing could tip the balance in either direction. Because things could have been worse…

Igneel and Natsu could have walked in to find her dead on the floor- mutilated just like all of the other girls had been. That would have been much worse.

Natsu would never forgive him if she was dead and Igneel would never be able to forgive himself.

Zancrow's voice drew him back to reality.

"Yeah, so I gave some of the other Officers description of the guy who attacked me. I think someone recognized him and a few guys went to go bring him in for questioning."

Igneel turned to look at him, confusion and surprise etched across his face. "You did what?" When Igneel had first found Zancrow he couldn't tell up from down and left from right and now he was just remembering to tell him that he remembered what the guy who had taken Lucy looked like?

Zancrow nodded, completely ignoring the glare Igneel was giving him, and smiled brightly at him. "I think someone said the guys name was-."

Zancrow was cut off by a different voice. Someone was shouting- screaming for someone to listen to them, and when Igneel realized he knew who that voice belonged to his heart jumped up into his throat.

"I would never hurt Bunny Girl! Never!"

**~The Raven~**

**AN: I couldn't stop laughing as I wrote this… I went back and reread some of the first few chapters… and in chapter five there's a little NaLu moment near the end and Gray interrupts, saying something along the line of "You two are so adorable it makes me want to shoot myself" in chapter seven Natsu and Lucy get together… and Gray gets shot.**

**Oh God! I can't stop laughing at that because it was a complete accident!**

**Anyway… What do you guys think of the new arc? I think it's going to be interesting and I'm going to cry if there aren't any NaLu moments!**

**I want to thank everyone for reviewing! It makes my day to know that there are people out there that want me to continue this story.**

**Ugh… this isn't making any sense… it's like two in the morning… what am I saying/ writing? Please Ignore the last bit of Igneel's thoughts… they make no sense.**

**Also, I don't know when I'll update next. Tennis season is starting up for my school and that will be taking several hours out of my day. Sorry!**


	12. Beautiful Letdown

**The Raven**

**Chapter Twelve: Beautiful Letdown **

"Dammit Zancrow!" Lucy screamed at the blond man in front of her, angry that he wasn't listening to her. "Tell me who you blamed!" She snarled out. Lucy had had just about enough of Zancrow's dancing around the subject bullshit. She didn't give a damn that he was beating the shit out of her on a daily basis, but it was a whole other story when he was going to ruin someone else's life because of her.

After he had told her that he was framing someone else for what he had done, Zancrow had cackled and refused to tell her who. That had been nearly four hours earlier. Meaning she had been missing for about three days, that is, if Zancrow had told her the truth about how long she had been there.

The first time she had woken up she had already been missing for a day. When Zancrow decided to use her as a punching bag she had been unconscious for another few hours. Or, that was what Zancrow had told her.

Sometimes Lucy just really wanted to slam her head against a wall. She had no idea what she should or shouldn't believe. Well she knew that she shouldn't believe anything that Zancrow spat out of his mouth, but she was nearly positive that he was telling the truth about framing someone else. There was no logical reason for him to lie about that… other than the fact that he was a sadistic bastard that was trying to make her life a living hell.

Well jokes on him! It's too late for that!

Lucy sighed and shut her eyes, anger coursing through her veins. Zancrow was once again refusing to answer her question. She pushed Zancrow's lack of cooperation to the back of her mind, instead choosing to think about her friends.

First were her boys, the ones who wouldn't hesitate to protect her from the world.

Jellal, Gajeel, Gray, and Laxus were probably panicking. They were most likely angry and- dare she say it- scared. They had no idea where she was or what was going on, but they were almost certainly trying to be strong. Yes, they would be trying so damn hard to stay strong for the girls and… Natsu.

She could remember how they reacted to learning about her abuse. They had been livid. Gajeel, Gray, and Laxus had reacted accordingly, pitching a fit and threatening to kill her father if he hurt her again, but she had managed to calm them down.

Well, she managed to calm down Gajeel and Gray. Laxus had grabbed an empty beer mug and chucked it at a drunken man's head one night after he made a joke about "battered women". The mug had just barely missed his head after Freed dove forward and pushed the drunken man down.

Jellal's reaction had been surprising. The normally calm man had exploded and probably would have gone after her father if Natsu and Gray hadn't held him back.

Igneel would be beating himself up over something that wasn't his fault. He would be blaming himself for leaving her there- for bringing her to the precinct in the first place. He would be angry that something had happened to her during the hour that he had left her and it would be killing him inside that he couldn't do anything to help find her.

Mira, Levy, Lisanna, Erza and Juvia would probably be crying. Well, maybe not Erza, but the others were questionable. They would need the boys with them right then more than they ever had before. She did a lot of things with the boys, but she was still incredibly close to all of the girls. They were all so different, but she still loved them just the same. She couldn't picture her life without the smart, sassy, and somewhat violent girls being a part of it. If they weren't around there would be a huge hole in her heart that she wouldn't know how to fill.

And Natsu… she didn't know how Natsu was feeling. Would he be scared? Angry? Heartbroken? Oh God, Igneel had brought him down to the precinct to see her and she hadn't been there. She had also been bleeding when she woke up, so there might have been blood on the floor. Lucy didn't have the energy to even _think_ about how he would be feeling.

Dammit! What was she going to do if she never saw him again? Or, rather, what would _he_ do if he never saw her again? Neither of them had gotten to say goodbye to the other. That chance had been almost cruelly ripped away from the two of them by Igneel.

Not that it was the older man's fault. No, not Igneel, it was Zancrow's fault. He was the reason she was missing. He was the reason Natsu probably felt like a part of him was gone along with her. And he was the reason an innocent person was going to be prosecuted.

Lucy opened her eyes once more, only to reel back in shock at the close proximity of Zancrow's face. Said man chuckled at her reaction, leaning forward he pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth, far too close to her lips for her to be comfortable with the action. Actually she didn't want him touching her anywhere, but the thought of him kissing her made her guts twist together painfully.

Zancrow laughed once more as he moved away from her. He ruffled her hair in what would have been an affectionate way if it had been Gajeel or Laxus doing the same thing, but it wasn't them and it took everything in her not to bite his hand. "I'll be taking my leave now, little Lucy." She wanted to spit in his face. "I've got work to do," he smiled at her cruelly. "If my memory serves me correctly then an arrest is going to be made for your case."

Lucy forgot how to breathe for several moments and, by the time she was able to speak up, Zancrow was almost out the door. "Wait!" She cried out. "Tell me who," she pleaded with him.

Zancrow turned around, intrigued. "Oh?" He took several long steps towards her. "And what do I get if I tell you?" An idea flashed through her mind and Lucy felt like she was going to be sick, but it might just be the right thing to say.

She put on a brave face, masking the small amount of fear that started to creep through her body. "Whatever you want," she promised. There were so many things he could do and she had just promised to give him whatever it was he wanted. She almost regretted it, almost. She was in no position to be making deals with Zancrow, but if it meant that he would give her an answer than she would take what she could get, even if it caused her harm.

Zancrow crouched down in front of the chair she was still tied to. He leaned in closer to her face, closer to her mouth and she knew just what he was going to do. "Deal," he whispered before slamming his mouth down on top of her own. She didn't even have a chance to cry out as his tongue thrust savagely into her mouth. The assault- she refused to even think of it as a kiss- lasted for several long, slow minutes, and she had to fight back the urge to sink her teeth into his tongue as he forcefully dominated her lips.

He pulled back, painting heavily, a long string of saliva stretching from his mouth to her own. "I'll claim the rest of it tonight." Lucy knew exactly what he meant by that and didn't know if she wanted to throw up or cry. She forced back both options and watched as he started to leave.

"Zancrow," she cringed at the slight waver in her voice. "We had a deal," she managed to choke out as he turned around to look at her once more.

He smiled brightly, sharp canines flashing dangerously. "Let's just say I didn't need to lie about all of my description," his smile widened at her confused look. "He has lovely crimson eyes." Lucy's breath caught in her throat as Zancrow slammed the basement door shut, locking the door.

Lucy only knew one other person with red eyes. Actually she knew two people with red eyes, but deep down she knew that it wasn't Rogue Cheney. She let out a dry sob and said his name, her voice breaking as she did so.

"Gajeel…"

**~The Raven~**

To say that Gajeel was having a bad week was a bit of an understatement.

First, one of his best friends, the girl who was practically his little sister, the girl who had willingly stood between his bruised body and the two guys who had left him that way, the girl who was dating his best friend… was missing. Lucy was missing. She was just… gone.

That didn't matter though. He meant what he had said to Natsu. They _would_ find her and she would be okay. Maybe not at first, but she would be okay. Because she had him and Natsu and Jellal and Gray and the girls, and they would all be damned to hell if anything else happened to her. She had already been through so much- so god damn much and he would make sure none of it ever happened again.

And then, as if to rub salt into the still raw wound, he had been arrested.

Now, Gajeel had done some pretty stupid things during his life time, he had done a lot of stupid things actually, but he had never been arrested. He had never had a reason to be arrested besides fighting and there was nothing the police could do about that unless they wanted to arrest half of Magnolia's population.

The arrest wasn't even the worst part of it. The worst part was that the police thought he had been the one to kidnap Lucy. And Natsu had said that all that they could find of the blonde was a few puddles of blood on the ground. Gajeel would never kidnap Lucy in the first place, he didn't have any reason to nor did he ever plan on abducting anyone, but she had been hurt too and that was something he would never_- never!_ – do.

And so there Gajeel was, sitting in an interrogation room, his large hands cuffed in front of him, three detectives staring at him, and he was being questioned about the whereabouts of one Lucy Heartfilia.

Great fucking week…

After the cop had shown up at Natsu's house and arrested him, Gajeel had been driven to the precinct, and damn right he had gone down there with a fight. There was no way in heaven or hell that he would ever hurt Bunny Girl.

He had caught sight of Igneel's shocked face almost immediately after being dragged into the building, obviously the man had no idea what was going to happen. Just behind him was a smug looking blond male with crimson eyes that Gajeel had never seen before in his life, but, judging from the description Natsu had given him, the man was named Zancrow. He was the one that couldn't even protect a single girl. He couldn't protect Bunny Girl.

Now Igneel, the blond- Zancrow, and a third man were standing in one of the interrogation rooms questioning him. Well, Zancrow and the other man were questioning him. Igneel was glaring at them from the opposite side of the room, not being allowed to have anything to do with the case involving Lucy and, now, Gajeel.

"So," Gajeel's attention was drawn back to the two men standing in front of him. "Mr. Redfox," the man who was neither Igneel nor Zancrow started. "Where were you three nights ago?"

Gajeel sighed heavily, already knowing that the rest of the day was going to be filled with pointless questions that would not help anyone find Lucy. "I was at home until my friend Natsu-," he jerked his head towards Igneel's stiff frame, "-That guy's son- called me and told me that something bad had happened to Lucy." Gajeel couldn't help but think that her name tasted funny on his tongue. He was so used to calling her Bunny Girl that her real name was strange to him.

"Can anyone verify that?" The third man asked him.

"No," Gajeel spat out. "I was home alone." Yeah, he was screwed. There was a huge opening in his schedule where had had been sitting at home alone, well he was with his cat Pantherlily, but he seriously doubted that these men would take that as an actual alibi.

"See that's interesting," the same man commented, "Because a witness places you here." Oh, well that was great.

"Who?" Gajeel whispered. He caught Zancrow's eyes and could practically see the huge smirk in them. Why would he be smiling?

The man questioning him nodded at Zancrow. "Him," he answered simply.

"What?" Gajeel shook his head. "That can't be right! Before today I have never seen him before in my life."

This time it was Zancrow who spoke up. "Don't you remember?" He asked. "You walked into the precinct and asked me for help, and then you knocked me out," he explained slowly, as if talking to a child.

Gajeel sent him an icy look. "You keep telling lies and I won't hesitate to do that for real." Probably not that best thing to say in the situation he was in. "I have never seen you before today, I didn't come here three days ago, and I didn't touch Lucy. I didn't hurt her," he snarled.

Zancrow smiled, cocking his head slightly to the right. "Who said she was hurt?" Zancrow asked him. "I don't remember anyone saying she was hurt."

"Dammit!" Gajeel hissed at the blond man. "I already told you! That night I was with Natsu because his girlfriend had just been abducted! He said something about blood being on the floor in the cell she was in," the dark haired man growled out, seething. "I can only assume it's hers or she managed to take a bite out of whoever attacked her, but, seeing as I'm sitting in here instead of some creep; it has to have been hers." Gajeel cringed at the thought. Someone had hurt her and, like had told Jellal earlier, they would probably do so again.

"But I saw you," Zancrow countered. "So who else could it have been?"

Gajeel spat out the first thing that came to mind, "I don't know, you?"

Zancrow shook his head. "I was unconscious when Igneel showed up, because you knocked me out."

Gajeel snarled at him. "I didn't touch you and I didn't touch Lucy," he winced at the thought. "She's like my sister, why would I want to hurt her?" Gajeel asked the other man.

Zancrow shrugged, seemingly amused. "You tell me," he said. Zancrow pulled out the chair across from Gajeel and took a seat. "You know… it's been more than twenty four hours," he mused. "Normally if we don't find a body in that amount of time we never will," Gajeel tensed up, his body going rigid. "Well," Zancrow chuckled. "Not a live body at least."

Gajeel swallowed thickly, looking down at his hands. He couldn't look Zancrow in the eye. "Shut up," he pleaded. Zancrow ignored him.

"Did you kill her right away or did you wait?" He asked mockingly. "Maybe you played with her a bit." Gajeel's eyes flew wide open and his head snapped up so that he could lock eyes with the blond male. "You hit her?"

Gajeel shook his head stiffly. "I would never, _ever_, lay a hand on her," he snarled at Zancrow. "If I ever did I would gladly deal out a punishment for myself." He didn't need Zancrow to tell him that he had hurt Lucy, because Gajeel knew the truth. Gajeel knew that he hadn't hurt Lucy and that was what mattered. That was the only thing that mattered.

"So you did kill her," Zancrow mused. "Where's the body?" Gajeel squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

"I didn't kill here," Gajeel whispered. He was trying so hard to keep himself from crying. Crying would not be okay in the situation he was in. He would not allow himself to cry in front of so many people. "She's not dead," Gajeel whispered to himself.

Unfortunately Zancrow heard him. "Did you rape her?" Gajeel lunged to his feet and ripped the table out from in between his body and Zancrow's. Before the blond male had time to react, Gajeel had already grabbed a hold of his shirt collar and lifted him into the air.

"Say that one more time," Gajeel growled, "And I will break your neck," he threatened. At that point Gajeel had no control over his emotions. The thought of anyone taking advantage of Lucy like that made him sick to his stomach. It was awful. Lucy had never done anything to deserve what life had thrown her way, but she still took on everything with her head held high. Gajeel knew that everyone had a breaking point though. And maybe she could deal with someone beating the shit out of her, maybe she could deal with someone breaking her bones and leaving bruises and scars all over her body. But being ripped apart like that, being _raped_, that would be her breaking point.

_"What if they find her and I can't touch her anymore because she's afraid of me?"_

Is that what Natsu had meant when he said that? Was he afraid that someone would do that to her? Rape her? Gajeel knew that if Lucy wouldn't even let Natsu touch her no one would be able too. She had known him the longest, she trusted him the most, and God dammit she loved him! And he loved her. And Gajeel knew that if something like that were to happen to Lucy, Natsu would never forgive himself, because he was supposed to protect her. If Lucy was afraid of him it would kill Natsu. It would kill him because he loved her and she would be too afraid to let him be anywhere near her.

Gajeel didn't want to know what that would be like, so in the back of his mind he promised himself he would never let anything bad happen to Levy.

_"They'll find her," Gajeel promised. "And she'll be okay, because this is Bunny Girl and she can take everything life throws at her."_

He tried to believe in his own words, but he found that he didn't have the will to do so. All he wanted to do was crawl into a dark place and cry. He wanted to cry for Lucy and everything she had been through, because he knew that she wouldn't cry for herself.

_"Lucy is one of the only people I put before myself."_

Gajeel didn't care about a lot of people. After his father had died in a car crash he had found it nearly impossible to let people into his heart again. Then he met Lucy and she pulled his head out of his ass and made him see that life wasn't worth living if you didn't have people to care about. She taught him that things could get better if you gave them a chance. He swore to protect her after that. He generally didn't need to because of Natsu, but when the rose haired boy wasn't able to be by her side Gajeel would watch out for her.

_"I've never been able to protect any of the people I care about."_

His own words were shoved back into his face, making him cringe on the inside. He needed to change that. He needed to help Natsu find Lucy and he needed to make sure something like this never happened to Levy.

Gajeel barely felt it when Igneel and the other cop ripped his arms away from Zancrow and shoved him back into his seat. All three of the men were screaming at each other, sometimes gesturing to Gajeel, but the younger male didn't notice any of it. He was far too gone in his own thoughts to care about what the three police officers were talking about.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by a heavy hand falling down on his shoulder. Gajeel raised his gaze from the floor only to meet Igneel's worried eyes. "We're going to step outside for a minute, okay Gajeel?" He nodded mutely. "Just stay in here." As if he could go anywhere. He was still currently handcuffed and they would probably lock the door behind them. "We'll be back soon." Gajeel nodded once again and Igneel sighed. The red haired man gestured for the other two males to leave the room and they, reluctantly, complied. "I will get you out of here," Igneel whispered. "And I will find her. Alive," he promised.

The door shut behind Igneel with a click.

**~The Raven~**

As soon as Igneel shut the door behind him, he rounded on the two other men. He focused his gaze on Max first. "You arrested Gajeel?" He hissed at the younger man icily.

Max shrank back and threw his hands up in front of him. "I'm sorry," he said. "I was just doing what I was told!" Max looked away from Igneel, refusing to meet his eyes.

Igneel sighed and shook his head. Max was an idiot most of the time, but he never meant any harm. Plus he was only following orders; Igneel couldn't fault him for that. Zancrow on the other hand… "What the hell is wrong with you?" Igneel asked the blond male harshly. "It was one thing to ask him where he was that night and if he had anything to do with her disappearance, but murder and rape is something else entirely," he snarled.

Zancrow threw his hands up into the air between them just like Max had done. "Someone had to play the 'bad cop'," he smirked. "It certainly wasn't going to be dipshit over there," he pointed at Max.

"You had no right to-!"

"Excuse me…?" A timid voice whispered.

"What?" Igneel barked, whipping around to glare at the person who had dared to interrupt his reprimanding. "Oh," he lowered his voice, eyes widening as he realized who he had just screamed at. "What is it Laki?" The violet haired woman adjusted her glasses and shuffled nervously for a few seconds.

"Captain wants to see you." She shot a look at Zancrow and Max. "All of you," she clarified.

Igneel nodded stiffly, not in the mood to deal with Jose Porla at that moment. "Thanks Laki," he murmured, brushing past her. "Max, Zancrow!" He barked out. "Hurry up!" Igneel didn't bother to check to see if they were both following him, he knew that they were. It would be a bad idea to skip out on a meeting with the Captain.

Igneel didn't spare the other males another glance until they were standing out side of the Captain's door, and even then it was no more than a quick look, his eyes darting away from them before either could really call it a glance. "No doubt this is about what happened in the room just now. Don't say anything stupid and let's figure this mess out." With that being said Igneel pushed open the door and burst into the room. "What the fuck is this all about Captain Jos-," Igneel cut himself off, his mouth dropping open. "Mavis! Wh-what are you doing here?" He asked the blonde woman that he had not been expecting to see. "Where's Jose?"

Mavis Vermillion smiled brightly at Igneel. "Jose was fired for misconduct," she explained. "I'm in charge now." Igneel blinked. That was unexpected. It wasn't that he disliked Mavis, in fact she was a wonderful person, it just wasn't what he thought was going to happen. But Mavis, being a rather gentle and kind person, would probably be willing to see that Gajeel was not in any way involved in Lucy's disappearance.

"Why are we here?" Zancrow spoke up, moving so that he was standing next to Igneel. "I have a man to interrogate." Mavis' expression suddenly became cold.

"No, you do not," she hissed. Mavis was normally incredibly sweet to everyone, but when someone fucked something up big time she tended to be a bit violent with them, especially if they accidently arrested someone who was innocent. "You can't hold Mr. Redfox here unless you're going to charge him with something."

"We still have over seventy hours to charge him with-," Mavis cut Zancrow off harshly.

"No," she growled. "I'm not finished. If you charge him with the disappearance of Ms. Heartfilia you'll also have to charge him with murder in the first degree as well as an attempted murder." She glared at Zancrow. "You have no evidence suspecting that he was involved with either of those things." Mavis leaned forward in her chair. "You have nothing to hold him on," she finished.

"I saw him-," Zancrow tried to defend himself.

"A faulty testimony," she said. "You were hit over the head and unconscious when Igneel found you. That aside you also waited to give a description of your attacker for nearly forty eight hours. That won't add up well in court." She leaned back, shoulders dropping and all of her previous anger seeming to ebb away. "You also violated his right to council."

Zancrow looked down, not meeting her eyes. "He didn't ask for an attorney…" Max shuffled nervously at that. Igneel and Mavis both caught the small action.

"Is something wrong Mr. Alors?" Mavis asked softly.

"He did ask for an attorney," he blurted out. "And Zancrow said he would go make the call." Mavis sent him a disapproving look.

"You're just racketing up the points here Mr. Tetsu," she sighed. "As the method of detainment was unorthodox and Mr. Tetsu failed to conduct a proper arrest, Gajeel Redfox is free to go."

Zancrow scoffed at that. "So what Igneel did the other day that was the right way to arrest someone?" He asked a mocking tone clear in his voice.

Mavis closed her eyes. "Igneel's mistake will be dealt with once we find the girl. That's all I'll say on that matter."

What Mavis had said earlier came back to him. "Captain Mavis?" He asked softly.

"Yes, Igneel?"

He sucked in a deep breath. "You said that to hold Gajeel for Lucy's… Ms. Heartfilia's disappearance he would also have to be charged for murder, correct?"

Mavis nodded. "Yes. There is reason to believe that the recent 'Raven killings" and Ms. Heartfilia's kidnapping were conducted by the same person." She blinked. "Why?"

Igneel sighed, for once thanking his son and his friends for doing completely stupid things. "At the time of the third and forth murder Gajeel Redfox was with my son, Ms. Heartfilia, Gray and Lyon Fullbuster, the former of which was nearly killed just over a week ago, and one Jellal Fernandez," Igneel explained. "Gajeel then spent the rest of the night with the five of them and they did not return until later that day."

Mavis pursed her lips. "His presence can be accounted for the entire night?" Igneel nodded. "Release Mr. Redfox and erase all charges. Do not make a mistake like this again," she threatened.

Zancrow took a step forward. "But Ms. Vermillion!"

"Enough!" She folded her hands in her lap. "Unless Mr. Redfox was in two places at once he has committed no crime." She smiled at Igneel. "Mr. Alors, Mr. Dragneel, you two are dismissed. Zancrow, I need to speak with you for a moment more."

**~The Raven~**

Lucy dropped her head back down onto the back of the chair after what seemed like hours of struggling to free herself. She could feel something wet dripping over her hands and, with a jolt, she realized it was blood.

She had straggled against the ropes tied around her wrists so much that it had rubbed the skin raw, cutting the flesh open.

Lucy shook her head. A bruised and bloody wrist was better than what Zancrow had planned for her later. Oh yes, she knew exactly what he was planning to do and it made her want to curl up into a ball and cry her heart out. The attack from earlier, she had to firmly remind herself that it wasn't a kiss- it was not a kiss- already had her feeling small and unclean.

It wasn't that she disliked kissing, because she did. But it was forced and he was vile and she hadn't wanted it and he wasn't Natsu… He wasn't _Natsu_.

Dear god, she missed him. It had only been three days, but there was no telling when she would be getting out of where ever it was she was locked up. And she could only imagine how he was feeling.

Going back to her Zancrow issue though… she had always told herself that she wouldn't be one of those girls that let themselves be raped, not that anyone let's themselves be raped, but she wouldn't let herself end up in a situation like that. She wouldn't walk home alone late at night; she would bring one of her male friends with her. She wouldn't drink until she couldn't see straight or do drugs. She wouldn't talk to suspicious people. She wouldn't put herself in a situation where she could be raped.

And look where she was.

Beaten and tied up in some basement with the man who kidnapped her promising to "claim the rest later".

She had failed. She could deal with the beatings; she could deal with having her bones broken over and over, but not rape. The physical beating of it wouldn't be a problem for her, but the emotional and mental scarring… that would kill her.

But she would get through it. She would live and she would fix herself, because her family would be there to help her. Natsu and Erza and Gajeel and Levy and Juvia and Gray, they would all help her. The Dragneels would help her through it.

She closed her eyes and let a small smile slip over her face. She didn't need to be afraid of them. They weren't her father and they weren't Zancrow. They were her family, so what reason did she have to shy away from any of them?

She smiled wider. No matter what happened in the basement she was in, no matter what happened to her, she wouldn't let it affect that way she was with her friends. She would not let it break her.

She was stronger than that, and they deserved better. They had stuck by her side for years and she wouldn't throw that away. She wouldn't throw away years of friendship after one moment of hurt.

She refused to let that happen.

She shook the thoughts from her head and thought about Gajeel instead. She wasn't worried about him; Igneel would find a way to help him, so she didn't need to worry.

Besides, she needed to find a way to get out of, what she could only assume was, Zancrow's basement. There were no windows that she could climb through and the door was locked. She wouldn't have to worry about those facts until she managed to untie herself though.

Lucy bit her cheek and looked around once more. If Zancrow were to untie her, which he did after several minutes of beating on her, knowing that she didn't have the strength to run, she would be able to find a way out. He never locked the door when he was down in the basement with her, only when he would leave. If she could somehow knock him off of her or even knock _him_ out, she would be able to make a break for the door. She would be able to lock the door behind her because he always had his keys attached to his right hip.

If she managed to get away from Zancrow and lock him down in the basement, she could call for help. Although a better idea might have been to just run. Zancrow knew the house better than she did. If he was able to get out of the basement before she could find a phone and call for help she would be stuck again.

Who would she even call?

Her father? Doubtful. He either wouldn't answer the phone or would hang up when he realized it was her. And that was only if he was home. She hadn't seen him for over a week, probably nearly eleven days now assuming that Zancrow hadn't been lying about how long she had been missing.

She had been taken on Saturday… so it must have been Tuesday. And to think, everything started nearly a month earlier when she had been attacked by a deranged bird on a Thursday morning. Lucy smiled softly. She and Natsu had been dating for just less than two weeks. Wait… Does it still count if she had been missing for part of that time? Probably.

That was another option. She could call Natsu, he would be happy to know that she was okay and dear god she missed him so much. She never knew that being away from her best friend for several days would hurt so much. Of course, she had never really spent a day without him. They went to school together everyday, or, they use to, what with it being summer and everything. They hung out on weekends, and they lived next door to each other.

Then again, if she were to call Natsu he would panic, freak out, start asking questions she couldn't answer, and a panicked was not a helpful Natsu. That and she didn't want him to end up hurt. If he raced over to help her and Zancrow got out of the basement they would both be dead. And she couldn't let that happen.

No. She would call the police. Maybe Igneel, he would help.

Lucy sighed again and dropped her head back against the chair. Her head hurt and she was tired, but she wasn't about to let herself sleep while she still had things to figure out. She couldn't sleep without solidifying a plan. And she would not sleep while Gajeel was in trouble.

With that thought in mind Lucy once again tried to stretch the bonds around her wrists, praying that the rope would loosen enough for her to slip through them. Or maybe if the ropes bit into her skin enough the blood on her hands would allow her to squeeze her arms out.

Although both options were unlikely she still tried.

**~The Raven~**

_ "You know I think Levy likes you." Gajeel glanced at the small blonde sitting next to him. She wasn't looking at him; instead she was staring off into the distance, watching the sunset just like he had been doing a moment earlier. _

_ He looked away from her and didn't say anything for a long moment. "Good for her," he mumbled. This was not the kind of conversation he wanted to have. Not with the blonde girl that was trying so damn hard to weasel her way into his heart. Not with anyone. He didn't want to get close to anyone ever again and it was getting to be so hard not to accept her._

_ She sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off immediately. "Come on Gajeel," she pleaded softly, voice nothing more than a whisper. "I can't be the only friend you have for the rest of your life." He growled low in his throat._

_ "You are not my friend," he snarled at her. He hated what he was doing. He hated it. He didn't want to scare her away and he didn't want to hurt her, but things would be better if she just stopped trying. Deep down inside he knew that she never would give up on him though. She would never give up on anyone._

_ "Don't be like that Gajeel," she pleaded. When he didn't reply she frowned and moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him in a gentle, but firm, embrace. "Life," she started, shaking her head. "Life isn't worth living if you don't have people to care about and people who care about you in return." He swallowed and tensed up, but didn't push her away. "I don't know what happened to you Gajeel," she whispered. "I don't know your back story and I don't know why you don't want to let anyone in." She gave him a small squeeze. "But things get better," she promised. "Things always get better."_

_ When Gajeel didn't respond Lucy sighed and stood up, ready to walk away and let him think about what she had said. She wasn't expecting a hand to shoot out and wrap around hers._

_ "Sit your ass back down," he grumbled. "You want to know why I'm an ass-."_

_ "You aren't an ass Gajeel," she protested._

_ He ignored her. "Then sit down and listen." He looked up at her. When she made no move to sit back down he sighed and gave her hand a sharp tug, practically dragging her down next to him. "My dad died in a car crash about a year ago," he told her. She didn't say anything so he decided to continue. "And I don't want to lose anyone else." He swallowed. "I figured that if I didn't get close to anyone else after moving here I wouldn't have to lose anyone."_

_ "What about your friends?" She asked._

_ "I didn't have friends," I said. "No one really took the time to get to know me."_

_Neither of them said anything for what seemed like hours and it was starting to get dark. "I am," she murmured, so quietly he could just barely hear her. "I'm taking the time to get to know you." She looked at him, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'll be your friend Gajeel," she promised._

_He turned to her, an extremely small smile tugging up the corners of his lips. "I know you will Blondie," he looked away from her an embarrassed blush coloring his face. "And I'll be yours," he promised back._

_She smiled back at him and he figured that he made the right choice. Maybe she was right. Things could get better. No… Things _would_ get better. He had a friend now, he had someone to care about, someone who cared about him in return._

_And his life was worth living._

_He glanced at her again, simply taking her in. She was like the little sister he had never had, never giving up on him, believing in him. That meant a lot, the fact that she was willing to get to know him without judging him first. He should have realized that she wasn't going to just walk away after putting herself, putting her body, between his and two other men who probably could have beaten her half to death. _

_She didn't hesitate to protect him._

_And he wouldn't hesitate to protect her._

_Not that he would need to protect her. He smiled a bit. The pink- _pink_- haired male that he had seen her with several times was practically her bodyguard… or maybe a dragon. Gajeel smirked at that. A dragon was probably more fitting; the other male seemed like a hothead, practically spewing fire at everything and everyone. _

_Gajeel shook his head. It didn't matter what the guy was; only that he cared about the girl next to him. _

_She had fought to get to know him… now she was never getting rid of him. Not now and not ever._

Gajeel squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he thought about that day. It was one of the most important things that had ever happened to him.

No, it was the most important thing that had happened to him. If he had never met Lucy he wouldn't know Jellal or Gray or Natsu or Levy. He would never have met his _girlfriend_.

He fought back tears and let himself drift back off into more memories.

_Gajeel wasn't sure how he ended up at Fairy Tail on a Saturday morning. Why the hell was he even awake on a Saturday morning? Oh, that's right, the Stripper and Salamander had broken into his house and probably would have drug him outside in his underwear if he hadn't agreed to go with him. Well Stripper would have, Salamander looked just as unhappy as he was to be awake at _seven in the god damn morning_. Although the pink haired male did brighten at the fact that they would be seeing Lucy, which was completely understandable considering the fact that Gajeel was roughly eighty-six percent sure that Salamander and Lucy would end up sucking each other's face off before they graduated in two years._

_Gajeel sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. They were still waiting for someone to walk over and take their orders, no one was one hundred percent sure that Lucy was even working today, Salamander and Stripper wouldn't stop fighting, and he was tired dammit! How did he even get sucked into the other two idiots' plan? This was not what he wanted to be doing on a Saturday morning!_

_Natsu slammed an open palm down onto the table between them, practically growling at Gray, who was sitting next to Gajeel. "Say that again stripper and_- Holy shit, Lucy!?"

_Gajeel shot the wide eyed boy an odd look before turning around to see what the pink haired boy was freaking out about. His mouth dropped open when he saw her and he knew that the other boys were giving her similar looks. She glared back at them. "Say anything about what I'm wearing and I will destroy everything you love," she snarled. Gajeel snapped his mouth shut, he couldn't let anything happen to Pantherlily._

"_You look adorable Lucy!" Gray snickered. Gajeel shot the other male a horrified look. That poor bastard…_

_She did look adorable though. Along with her normal work uniform that consisted of a black tank top, black skirt, and black waist apron she also had a headband with a pair of bunny ears attached to the top. The ears were white and fuzzy, one of them sticking straight up while the other was bent at the middle, flopping over on itself. And, if Gajeel were to lean slightly to the right, he could just see a white, fluffy bunny tail attached to the back of her apron._

_Lucy's eyes narrowed dangerously and, before Gray could react, she had him pinned up against the table the boys were at by his, somehow still there, shirt. Gray let out a surprised squeak as Lucy brought her face mere inches away from his. "Call me adorable one more time, Fullbuster, and you lose a finger," she threatened. Gray nodded quickly, he didn't want to challenge the, obviously angry, girl to a fight._

_Natsu chuckled and stood up from his spot on the other side of the table, he walked over to the side Gajeel was on and pulled Lucy off of Gray, his arms wrapping around her torso, making Gajeel wince. _

_It was so painfully obvious that the two sixteen year olds liked- maybe even _loved_- each other, and their frequent, intimate displays of affection made everyone else want to kill them, or lock them in a closet together until _something_ happened. _

"_Oh come on, Lu," he whispered into her hair. "It's true." Natsu was probably the only one who could say that and get away with it. "Why are you wearing that anyway?" He voiced the question all of them wanted to ask._

_The blonde sighed and threw one of her own arms around Natsu's torso. "I lost a bet with Bixlow," she grumbled, clearly unhappy with the outcome of said bet._

"_What bet?" Gajeel asked. He didn't remember there being any bet. Why would she make a bet with Bixlow in the first place?_

_Lucy grimaced, "We were arguing about whether or not fairies have tails," she sighed and pressed a hand to the side of her face. "Apparently most people think they do.…" Well… that was a new one. Gajeel had never heard that one before._

_Gray burst out into peals of laughter. "That- haha! That is too good!" Lucy winced at the outburst and Gajeel took the time to punch the laughing boy in the side of the head. Natsu probably would have done it, but he was currently…_ preoccupied.

_Gray fell sprawled out onto the floor, glaring at Gajeel from his place on the ground. "Don't listen to him, Bunny Girl," Gajeel teased lightly. Lucy shot him a dark look, but it soon melted into a large grin, a laugh bubbling out of her mouth._

"_Thanks, Gajeel," she said, her arm tightening around Natsu just a bit. "If any of you three mention this to anyone else- _anyone else_- I will make sure it's the last thing you ever do," while it sounded like a threat the three boys knew that she was only teasing. They also knew that by the end of the day everyone would know about the "bunny costume"._

That was the day that he had started to call his small, blond friend "Bunny Girl". That was also the day that he learned that fairies apparently had tails, or, the general public seemed to think they did, which was weird because in movies like Peter Pan they didn't have tails and… what was he even doing?

Gajeel sighed and dropped his head into his shaking hands. What was he doing? He was sitting in an interrogation room. That's what he was doing. He wasn't out looking for Lucy, he wasn't comforting one of his closest friends when he needed him most, he wasn't trying to figure out what the hell was going on, he wasn't… he wasn't doing anything.

He wasn't doing anything…

Gajeel felt a lump growing in his throat and he knew what that meant. It meant he was going to start crying. The tears were building in the corner of his eyes and it took everything he had not to let them burst out in one heartbreaking sob. He failed. The single cry broke through his lips and he could feel something wet trailing down his cheeks. He winced as some of the cool, salty liquid dripped onto his hands, which he had pulled away from his face.

He was almost ashamed of himself for crying. _Almost_. His emotions were boiling over and now that no one else was in the room he could let the tears fall. His wasn't proud of them, but the bigger man wasn't the one who couldn't cry, it was the one that wasn't afraid to do so when the time called for it.

He had seen all of the girls cry, he had seen several guys cry after nearly breaking their jaws when he punched them, and he had seen Salamander cry. He had seen Natsu cry. Natsu, who was cheerful and brash and wasn't afraid to beat the shit out of people who hurt his friends, Natsu, who was violent and aggressive and sort of an idiot most of the time. Gajeel had seen one of the strongest people he had ever met in his life… cry.

And if Natsu could cry so could he.

The last time he had cried was when his father had died, but at that time it was only silent tears running down his face rather than the loud, heart wrenching sobs he was letting out right at that moment.

Maybe it was because he was older and could fully understand the fact that he had lost someone. Maybe if his father had died when he was older he would have cried as hard as he was now. But his father had died when he did and now the full impact of the word "gone" was hitting him like a freight train.

Or maybe it was because Lucy had almost forced herself into his life, trying to be his friend when no one else would. Maybe it was because he had grown to love all of his friends. Maybe he would be reacting the same way if it was Erza, or Jellal, or Lisanna that was missing. He hadn't cried when Gray was shot because by the time he found out about it Gray had already been released from the hospital, but if Gray had died, Gajeel probably would have cried, well… he liked to think he would cry for his friend.

He let out a shaky breath and tried to calm himself down. He had watched enough crime shows to know that the mirror in front of him was actually a one way mirror and there was no telling if someone was actually sitting back there watching him cry his heart out over his friend… his little sister. It wouldn't really surprise him if the blond bastard from earlier was sitting back there, smirking to himself as he watched Gajeel cry like a four year old.

Gajeel was finally able to calm himself after several long moments filled with deep breaths and barely audible encouragements from himself. "She's going to be okay," he whispered. "Everything is going to be okay."

Gajeel managed to calm himself down just in time, right after he had finished talking to himself the door to the room he was in unlocked and he turned, brushing away the stray tears from his face, just in time to see Igneel push the door open. The older man walked up to him and unlocked his handcuffs, not saying anything. If the man noticed that Gajeel had been crying he didn't comment on it, an action that Gajeel was incredibly thankful for, he didn't want to talk to Igneel about his feelings.

Igneel backed away after a moment and sighed heavily. "You're free to go Gajeel." He shot the older man a look. "We cleared you. You won't be charged with anything." Gajeel nodded, not saying a word to the other man, afraid that if he did he would start crying again.

Of course he was happy that he wasn't going to be charged with the kidnapping of his friend, but he didn't have it in him to thank Igneel. Just like Natsu, Gajeel partially blamed the older male. Gajeel firmly meant what he had told Natsu and Jellal earlier. If Igneel hadn't come up with the idea to arrest Lucy in the first place she wouldn't have been taken. She was at work when she was arrested by the red haired male, so if anyone was to try and hurt her there would be an army of angry employees and regulars there to defend her. Plus Natsu, Jellal, and he would catch wind of what had happened and would have been at the bar within ten minutes, tops.

"I'm sorry about all of this." Gajeel shrugged him off; unsure of what Igneel was apologizing about. Was it for Gajeel being falsely accused of kidnapping and murder or for letting Lucy be taken right from under his nose? Gajeel didn't have an answer to that and he wasn't going to stick around and find out.

He had a bad feeling about that blond cop and he intended to tell Natsu all about it. Maybe it was the way he had tried to get under Gajeel's skin or the questions themselves, but Gajeel could almost feel the malice dripping off of the man. He could have just chalked it up to the other man, Zancrow, playing "bad cop", but it felt more personal than that, especially at the fact that the other man had placed Gajeel at the precinct when Lucy had been kidnapped.

Gajeel knew for a fact that he had never seen Zancrow before in his life; he normally tried to steer clear of any authority figure besides teachers, Igneel, and Erza. There was no way he had been there when Lucy went missing. He hadn't knocked out Zancrow and he hadn't done anything to make Lucy bleed.

He had been shocked when Natsu had called him at nearly ten at night. The other male had been crying and Gajeel could barely understand what he was saying. The only thing he could make out was "Lucy" and "arrest" and "blood". Gajeel had sped to his friend's house and an obviously distraught Natsu had opened up the door. Gajeel noticed right away that his friend had been crying, but knew that the situation was not one that allowed for teasing. The pink haired male had explained what had happened to Gajeel and it took everything he had not to drive his fist into Igneel's face. It would not do well to punch the cop.

Gajeel hadn't left the Dragneels' house since that day, opting to stay with his distressed friend instead of going back to his own house to stay by himself. Jellal had shown up about an hour after he had and also stayed for the next few days.

"Call Natsu and tell him to come pick you up. He's probably worried." Gajeel bit back a vicious retort, of course Natsu was worried. His girl friend was missing, his best friend had been shot and nearly killed, and now his other male best friend had just been arrested for his girlfriends kidnapping. Why wouldn't he be worried? He had everything, _everything_, to be worried about.

Instead Gajeel nodded again and followed Igneel out the door. He continued down the hall as another officer ran up to Igneel, stopping him. He said something in an urgent voice that had Igneel freezing up. Gajeel's world stopped and he forgot how to breathe as he heard what the other man said.

"We found a body."

**~The Raven~**

**AN: I did math for this chapter! **

**According to the messy timeline I have written down it is currently a Tuesday in this story and it had been exactly twenty seven days since chapter one happened. Next chapter I might put the timeline in the AN. Or if anyone asks I can PM it to them. It's rather confusing though.**

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update this! I was working hard on **_**Ocean of Fire**_**. I would really appreciate it if you guys checked out that story (some of you already have). Also, I'm sorry for any mistakes. Most of this was written late at night over the course of several days and I didn't have time to look it over. Sorry.**

**I think I'm going to start updating once a month from now on, there are several other things I'm working on and I don't want to rush the chapters of this so that I can find time to write other things.**

**Shout out to NeverMakesSense, The author of (my currently favorite ongoing Fanfiction) House of Aces! You should all check out that story as well!**

**So… no Fairy Tail chapter this week this makes me sad… **

**You know what I want to see in the manga? I want to see Lucy get hurt (maybe just a little) and have Natsu freak out about it, because (come on guys) she (Future Lucy) died in front of him and he wasn't able to do anything to stop it. Natsu tries so hard to protect everyone and the one person he wasn't able to save was (debatably, we don't know for sure, but I think so) his best friend and partner. That has to hit hard. It has to. I don't give a damn if "it was only F!Lucy" or "but she's still alive" that has to affect a person. He cried dammit! And nothing happened… You would think that if he saw her die he would want to keep her closer or something, but what do I know? **

**So yes. I want Lucy to be hurt in some way and Natsu and Happy (and what the heck, Wendy too) Flip out in some way.**

…**Does anyone even read this… No? So you didn't notice the random pink elephant up there? Okay…**

**I'm kidding there is no pink elephant, don't go looking for one.**

**Love and Always,**

**-Riven**


	13. He Said She Said

**The Raven**

**Chapter Thirteen: He Said She Said**

Igneel nearly ran towards Macao as he caught sight of the other man, panic flooding through every part of him. He could feel it creeping through his body, piercing his head and his heart with a feeling unlike any other. He was so damn afraid of what was going to happen next. He was afraid because he had no control over the situation. He didn't have control over the murders that had been happening because he had no leads and he just didn't know what to do to fix it. He didn't know if he could fix it.

He shook his head, sighing deeply through his nose. Everything was happening way too fast. Seven girls had been mutilated and Lucy was missing and Gajeel had been arrested and-.

_"We found a body."_

Igneel winced, silently reminding himself that it _was not_ her. When Alzack had pulled him aside to tell him the bad news the dark haired man had made sure to stress the fact that the victim was male, not female. Thank God it wasn't another girl… Not that it was particularly pleasant that anyone had been found dead, but if it was a woman than his mind would have gone haywire and he would be having a panic attack because there would be a good chance that it was her. What the hell was he supposed to tell his son if someone found Lucy's body lying in some alleyway, completely lifeless and- no. No, just no.

Igneel squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Hopefully it would never have to come to that. It would completely break his heart for him to not only find out that Lucy had been killed, but to also have to be the one to explain to Natsu that his girlfriend, and best friend, _was dead_. He couldn't imagine how painful that would be; to lose the person you love like that- to lose them permanently. Not just for Natsu, but for everyone else who loved Lucy as well.

He had had to investigate several missing persons' cases. For him the worst part wasn't even finding the bodies anymore, he had gotten far to use to that, sadly. No, the absolute worst part was having to tell the family, watching them fall apart at the seams as they learned that someone they loved was never coming home.

He could only pray that he would find Lucy before it would come to that; and maybe that was a selfish thought. Everyone lost someone; why should he be any different?

Igneel could have slapped himself. This wasn't about him and his feelings. This was about Lucy. He shouldn't have been worrying about the pain it would cause him and everyone else if she never came back, because Lucy could lose her life. He had no right to even be _thinking_ about pain.

He shook his head again, banishing the thoughts to the back of his mind. He had a job to do and unfortunately it didn't involve finding her. He needed to worry about the murder that he was now at the scene of.

And a murder scene it was. It was like in movies, blood everywhere. The blood didn't look fresh either, leaving Igneel to wonder just how long the man had been dead and how no one had noticed him earlier.

Macao nodded at Igneel as he walked up. Igneel took a deep breath through his nose. Another day, another drama to deal with; that was his life. That was what he had gotten himself into when he decided to pursue a job in the field of law and crime. He blinked at the dark haired man. "What do you need me to do, Macao?" Igneel asked the other man.

"Nothing," the other man said easily. "We've already collected all of the evidence, photographed the crime scene, and dusted for prints," Macao shrugged slightly, his shoulders just barely twitching up in a halfhearted way. "There's nothing left for anyone to do here."

Igneel's eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back in an irritated snarl. There was nothing for him to do? There was absolutely nothing for him to do? Instead of letting him try and find Lucy or figure out who exactly "the Raven" was they sent him to a crime scene that he was not even needed at.

To say that Igneel was pissed off about that fact was an understatement. He was positively _livid_. Instead of having him do something useful they had him doing nothing. They had him doing absolutely _nothing_.

"Then why the hell am I here?" He growled at Macao. He nearly winced at the snarl in his voice. He wasn't actually angry at the other man, but frustrated with the entire situation, because _seven girls had been mutilated and Lucy was missing and Gajeel had been arrested and now someone else was dead_ and god dammit he didn't have time to be doing nothing about any of it. He didn't have the time to just sit back and be sent places where he was no longer needed. He didn't have time to _waste_, because Lucy could end up _dead_ if he didn't figure out what to do.

Igneel noticed Macao's lack of response and tense posture after a moment. He sighed deeply, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down. After taking several slow, deep breaths he dropped his hand back down to his side and opened his eyes again, looking at Macao. "Why am I here?" He asked again trying to sound much calmer than he was earlier. It wasn't fair for him to explode at Macao for something that wasn't even his fault.

Macao shifted on his feet nervously, not looking him in the eyes. After a moment the dark haired male looked up again. "Gildarts said that he thinks you know the victim," he stated awkwardly.

Igneel's breath caught in his throat. "Wh-what?" He stuttered out, eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and absolute horror. "What do you mean Gildarts thinks that I know the victim?" He asked again. Macao swallowed thickly and opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again a moment later. Igneel was just about to repeat his question a third time, but a familiar voice spoke up before he could get the words out of his mouth.

"It means exactly what it sounds like, Igneel." The read haired man turned, catching sight of the chestnut haired Medical Examiner making his way over to the two of them. "We found a body," Gildarts continued. "And I think- no, _I know_ that you know who it is."

Igneel didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to think that he knew whoever it was that had been found dead. "And what relationship do I have with the dead man?" He whispered.

Gildarts shrugged. "You'll have to tell me," he said back. His voice suddenly dropped down to a low murmur. "After all you are the one that knows him."

Igneel sent him a dark look, but brush the side comment off quickly. "Just show me the body already," he sighed. It was probably better to just get everything over with as quickly as possible. The faster he got done here, the faster he would be able to get back to work, and the faster he would find some sort of information on what was going on.

Gildarts nodded in response, jerking his head to the right as an indication to follow him. Igneel and Macao shared a look, the latter gesturing with his hand for the former to go without him. With a sigh Igneel walked after the Medical Examiner, dodging other officers and crime scene investigators as he went. He stopped next to Gildarts, crouching down to be closer to the body, which was covered in a sheet, lying sprawled on the ground.

One of the dead man's hands was lying uncovered by the white sheet and Igneel could see an expensive looking watch that look vaguely familiar on the man's wrist. "It wasn't a robbery," Igneel mused softly to himself.

"You've got that right," Gildarts snorted. "This guy," his pointed a finger at the corpse, "Had two hundred dollars, in cash, on him. No one touched it."

Igneel was practically itching to rip the sheet off of the dead man, wanting to see just _who_ the person was, but he held himself back. He would wait until Gildarts explained how the man died. Or explain as well as he could considering he could only see the external damage at the moment. "How did he die?" Igneel asked.

Gildarts huffed slightly. "There are several ways he could have died," he hissed. "His throat was cut, so that's most likely the cause of death, but he could have bled to death before that. There were a number of deep slashes all over his body; several of them probably damaged his internal organs…" He trailed off for a moment. "Then again it might have been the sharp object shoved into his chest that killed him." Igneel blinked stupidly at the Medical Examiner, baffled at the damage that had been inflicted on their victim. "Or maybe it was the skull fracture and-."

"Gildarts," Igneel hissed at the other man, his patience finally running out. "Just show me the body," he sighed deeply. Igneel was great friends with Gildarts, really he was, but sometimes the man talked way more than what was necessary.

Gildarts rolled his eyes, but complied none the less. With a flick of the wrist the white sheet covering the dead man's face was thrown back, falling down to pool around the body's waist.

Gildarts hadn't been lying. There were a number of deep cuts and wounds all over the man's sickly pale skin. The man's clothing had been torn to pieces and Igneel could see just how much blood had soaked into the, now completely dry, clothing. His throat had indeed been slashed open deeply and- if the blood lose from the other cuts hadn't killed him- he had probably choked to death on his own blood. Igneel's gaze trailed up to the man's face, noticing the dark blond hair matted with dried blood and dirt.

That wasn't what caught his attention though. Igneel's heart lurched into his throat, his eyes snapping open wide. Gildarts was right, he had known the victim. Igneel didn't like the man, but he knew who he was. Igneel couldn't help but think that the man had gotten what he deserved, in some sick, twisted way; after absolutely everything the man had done to hurt people that hurt been thrown back at him tenfold. Igneel sighed. It was-.

"Jude Heartfilia," Gildarts cut into his thoughts. "Male, age thirty eight, and…" he trailed off for a moment. "He is your next door neighbor, father of your son's girlfriend, father of a missing girl, and businessman extraordinaire."

Igneel snorted. "You forgot abusive dick," he grumbled under his breath, not really saddened by the death of his onetime friend. He had no love for someone that would intentionally hurt their own child and then smile about it. He had no love for abusers in general. "How long has he been dead?" Igneel asked.

Gildarts shrugged. "About two weeks. It's hard to tell right now." Igneel nodded, it made sense. When he had talked to Lucy just over four days ago she had said that she hadn't seen her father in over a week. Igneel could only wonder if he had been dead that entire time.

Igneel turned to Gildarts. "And this is why you brought me here?" He asked dubiously. That couldn't possibly be the only reason he had been called out to the scene.

"No," Gildarts answered, pulling what looked like a business card out of his pocket. "This is." Igneel's eyes narrowed as he stared at the pitch black card, a red border on the edges. A strange hollow, disconnected red heart with two spikes jutting off on either side, what looked like two sideways "m"'s that were facing each other stretching from the center of the heart to a ways bellow it.

Igneel sighed, recognizing the symbol. "Grimoire Heart."

**~The Raven~**

Igneel glanced between Alzack and Max, waiting for their reactions to what he had just told them. After Igneel, Macao, and Gildarts had gotten back to the precinct he had called the other two males over to inform them of the situation as Gildarts went back to his examining room with Jude's body. Now the four of them were sitting in a circle, discussing what had happened and what they were going to do about it.

"Fuck," Alzack hissed under his breath, suppressing a second curse, "This just got a lot more complicated," he grumbled, shaking his head slowly.

Max, the youngest of the four men, spoke up after a brief moment of silence. "Who's Grimoire Heart?" Max asked them, confusion written all over his face.

Igneel glanced over at the younger man. "They're a gang in the Balam Alliance, if you can really even call them a gang. They haven't done anything illegal lately or really at all." Max opened his mouth to ask another question, but Igneel stopped him, already knowing what the younger man was going to say. "The Balam Alliance is an alliance of the three most powerful gangs in Magnolia, well it was anyway. They practically ruled the underworld together under a non-aggression pact. Every other gang was connected to them in some way, whether they worked for them or not." He sighed. "The alliance consisted of Grimoire Hearts, the Oracion Seis, and Tartarus."

Max nodded, but the confusion never left his face. Igneel felt a little bad about being annoyed by the younger man; it wasn't his fault that he wasn't working with the rest of them when Grimoire Hearts and the Oracion Seis were a bigger threat. "Why have I never heard of Grimoire Heart before now?" Max asked.

Alzack was the one to speak up that time. "Grimoire Heart and the Oracion Seis aren't that bad," the dark haired man told Max. "I don't even think they should really be classified as a gang." He took a deep breath, his gaze falling to the floor. "Tartarus is the one you need to watch out for. If you get on their bad side you wind up dead," he spat out. "Or worse..."

Macao nodded in agreement, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Not much is really known about Tartarus. All we know is that they've practically taken over the underworld now that the Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart are gone. They're a tricky, dangerous bunch filled with hit men and traffickers. The problem is that we can never link them to a crime that has been committed even though we know it's them."

"What about the other two?" Max asked. "Grimoire Heart and the Oracion Seis, that is."

Macao and Igneel shared a look, both asking the other who was going to explain the rest. Macao shook his head and gestured for Igneel to be the one to explain. Igneel shook his head as well; he was done trying to explain everything to Max. It's not that he didn't like Max, but the younger man was, well, young. He wasn't as informed as everyone else and he had a lot of questions. After several more seconds of staring at each other Igneel finally relented. It would be better to just suck it up and explain, getting the discussion over with as soon as possible.

Igneel sighed. "The Oracion Seis, or the six prayers in Spanish, disbanded about a year ago after their leader, Brain, was arrested for trying to create weapons of mass destruction, most notably the Jupiter Cannon. A few of the others were arrested as well, but most walked considering they hadn't really done anything wrong." He glanced at Max, who nodded in understanding, before continuing. "Grimoire Heart was also disbanded. Most of their members were arrested for drug trafficking. There are only nine of them that I can remember."

"Their leader was called Hades; he was murdered a few months ago. After that a man named Bluenote Stinger took control, but he was arrested shortly after. The others were called the 'Sven Kin of Purgatory', but they're practically nonexistent now. Zoldeo is dead, Kain Hikaru left the country, and Ultear Milkovich, Meredy Sensu, Azuma Tsuri, and Rustyrose Jisshikeitai gave up their life of crime, but they still call themselves Grimoire Heart."

"That's only six," Max observed. "But you said there were seven."

Igneel shrugged. "No one knows who the seventh one was. None of the members were willing to give the name up," he clarified. "It's not important though, they might not have ever existed. What is important is that someone left Grimoire Heart's calling card on our body."

"So what," Alzack cut in. "Doesn't that just mean that one of them did it?"

"No," Igneel growled. "Grimoire Heart is a lot of things, but none of them are murderers. The remaining four have cleaned up; they're practically our informants on what happens in the underworld now," he explained. "They've been trying to help us take out Tartarus for several months." He looked up at the other men. "They don't kill people," he said sternly. "And if they did they wouldn't be stupid enough to leave us their calling card."

Macao nodded. "You have a point, Igneel. But we still need to bring them in for questioning. If they didn't do it than maybe they know who did."

The red haired man nodded. Hopefully once of them could help out in some way. "You assume too much Macao," Igneel chuckled as he stood up waving for Max to follow him. He tossed a look at his partner, smiling a bit. "That would mean that they have to cooperate." His expression turned serious. "Alzack, track down Azuma Tsuri and Rustyrose Jisshikeitai, and then go with Macao to pick them up."

Alzack and Macao nodded. "What are you going to do Igneel?" The latter asked him.

Igneel smiled a bit. "Max and I are going to go get Ultear Milkovich and Meredy Sensu." He dropped his smile and stalked over to the door, Max following after him quickly. "I think we have some questions to ask them."

**~The Raven~**

"Are you sure it's a good idea to split them up like this?" Max asked him. "I mean… wouldn't it be better if they were all in separate rooms?"

"No," Igneel told him, shaking his head slightly. "Meredy and Ultear won't say anything without the other in the room and Azuma is the only one who can keep Rustyrose on a leash." He sighed loudly. "This is the only way any of them will talk."

Max nodded in understanding. "So, who are we talking to first?" He asked.

"I," Igneel made sure to stress the fact that it would only be him. "Am going to talk to Azuma and Rustyrose first," he told Max. "They're the least likely to say anything and I'd like to get them out of the way before I talk to the girls." Max murmured an "okay" and Igneel walked over to the first investigation room, throwing the door open and stepping inside.

"Hello gentleman," Igneel smiled at the two men that were sitting at the table in the center of the room. "How are you today?" He asked them.

The man with silver hair snarled at him. "Today was fine until you showed up, you fucking dick." He scoffed and then pushed his purple tinted glasses higher up on his nose, scowling at Igneel.

Igneel's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and for a moment he said nothing. "Well…" He said slowly. "Aren't you just a big ball of sunshine?" He sighed to himself. Maybe he should have gone with Ultear and Meredy first. He had been awake for far too long to deal with Rustyrose's bad attitude. "How about you, Azuma?" He smiled at the brunette man sitting to Rustyrose's left. "How has your day been?"

Azuma blinked at him slowly, not saying anything for several seconds. Igneel took that time to look over both males.

Azuma had always been an odd one. His brown eyes showed no fear or recognition as to why he was where he was, but his mouth was stretched into a grim line and it didn't look like he had shaved anytime recently, judging by the sideburns and goatee that decorated his face. Or maybe he did that on purpose, Igneel couldn't be sure. There was a glint of silver and Igneel finally took notice of the large, silver earrings shaped like a round crescent moon pointing down that Azuma always wore. And then there was the straight, brown streak running from his forehead down to the middle of his cheek on the left side that Igneel didn't have the heart to ask about. He couldn't tell if it was a scar or a tattoo or a birthmark, and he didn't plan on finding out.

Azuma and Rustyrose were almost completely different in every way. Where Azuma was tan and muscular, dark hair and dark eyes, Rustyrose was fair and lanky, silver hair and pale grey eyes. While Azuma was calm and collected, Rustyrose had a twisted side that most could never compete with. Unlike Azuma, Rustyrose didn't have any distinguishing features. There were no birthmarks or scars, no tattoos or anything really. The most noticeable difference was that Azuma was calm, completely immovable in everything he did, a rock so to speak; Rustyrose was dramatic and theatrical in anything and everything, a poetic man.

Azuma cleared his throat loudly, drawing Igneel back to the conversation once again. "It has been a good day, Igneel," he said politely. "May I ask why we are here?"

Igneel had to suppress a smile as he looked at the brunette man. It was obvious why Ultear Milkovich liked this man. He had just been brought into a police station for questioning, but he was still as polite as ever. Igneel pushed the stray thought to the back of his mind, he had more important things to think about than Ultear's love life, like finding out who killed there dead man.

Igneel sighed, mumbling something under his breath that sounded like nothing even to him. He glanced between Azuma and Rustyrose as he spoke. "A man was found dead earlier today," Igneel paused for a moment, looking for anything that flashed across their faces that could give them away. Nothing. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"Why the fuck would we know anything about some dead fucker?" Rustyrose hissed. Igneel rolled his eyes at the hissy man. Rustyrose normally spoke eloquently, but he seemed to find no need to speak beautifully to detectives like Igneel. Or maybe it was just Igneel himself, he did seem to be making a lot more enemies than friends lately.

"That 'dead fucker'," Igneel quoted the younger man. "Had your card left lying on his body." Igneel slapped the card, now covered in a protective layer of plastic so as not to be contaminated, on the table in front of the two men. Igneel smiled sarcastically. "Do either of you have any idea how it got there?"

"Hell no," Rustyrose barked out. The silver haired man growled low in his throat and opened his mouth to shout something else.

"Who?"

Igneel turned towards the other man. "Excuse me?" He asked Azuma softly.

Azuma blinked at him, dark eyes revealing absolutely nothing to Igneel. "Who?" He repeated quietly.

Igneel bit the inside of his cheek. Should he tell the two men who was found dead? To hell with it. "Jude Heartfilia," he answered, his gaze never wavering from Azuma's. "He was murdered just about two weeks ago. Do either of you two know anything?" Neither answered. "Did one of you kill him? I wouldn't really blame you if you did, he wasn't a good man."

"We didn't kill anybody," Rustyrose growled. Igneel hoped he wasn't lying. He knew the remaining four members of Grimoire Heart, and they weren't killers. Especially not Ultear and Meredy. Besides, what connection did any of them have to Jude Heartfilia? None of them really knew Lucy that well. Sure, Ultear and Gray were siblings, what with Gray and Lyon both being adopted by Ur Milkovich, but that was the only connection any of them had with the Heartfilias in general.

"Someone in Grimoire Heart did," Igneel told them. "We found your card on the body." The card, miraculously, had no finger prints. It had nothing that could lead them to Jude Heartfilia's killer.

"Someone framed us," the silver haired male insisted, gray eyes narrowing behind his violet tinted glasses. Azuma nodded in agreement.

Someone framing Grimoire Heart sounded like a logical answer, but there was something nagging at Igneel in the back of his head. He shook his head. "No," he said, shaking his head again. "No one framed Grimoire Heart." Rustyrose looked like he was about to protest, but Igneel stopped him. "No one is stupid enough to frame Grimoire Heart," Igneel shouted at them.

It was true. Grimoire Heart wasn't as powerful now as it was before, but you didn't mess with them, you didn't get on their bad side. They knew most of what happened in the underworld, so you didn't want to piss them off incase they decided it was time for you to do time in jail.

"We didn't kill anybody!" Rustyrose screamed at him, slamming his fists against the table in front of him.

"Ultear said you did," Igneel bluffed, internally wincing at what he had just said. He was trying to get them to cooperate, not turn them against each other. Hopefully he didn't just cause more problems than he already had.

Rustyrose's eyes snapped open wide and his eyes flashed darkly. "That bitch said what?" He asked, half shouting, half snarling. "I bet that whore killed him!" Igneel blinked once and suddenly Rustyrose wasn't sitting at the table anymore.

Igneel jumped to his feet, hands held up in a placating gesture. Azuma had the silver haired man pinned against the wall by his throat, face completely void of any emotion except for in his eyes, which were shinning with anger.

"Don't call her that," the brunette demanded gently, voice never rising from the quiet tone he had been using earlier. Rustyrose swallowed thickly and nodded. Azuma dropped him quickly and turned to face Igneel. "None of us killed Mr. Heartfilia," he told him. "Not me or Rusty or Ultear or Meredy," he promised. "But we can help you find out who did."

**~The Raven~**

Igneel slid into the chair across from Ultear and Meredy. "Good afternoon ladies." He smiled at them gently. Meredy smiled at him nervously and Ultear nodded at him.

"Hello Detective Dragneel," Ultear said politely. "Is there something we can help you with?" She asked him.

"Actually you can," Igneel told them. After Azuma had told him that Grimoire Heart could help him find the person that had murdered Jude, the brunette man had refused to elaborate, merely telling him that "Ultear will tell you". Igneel was only half sure that the man had only said that to get him out of there before Rustyrose said something stupid. "But first," he turned to Ultear. "How's Gray," he asked the dark haired woman.

She smiled at him. "He's fine now. Mom finally released the lockdown last night," she told him. Her smile fell away and she looked down. "I think he's with Natsu right now. After what happened with Lucy…" She trailed off, eyes clouding over with sadness.

Although Lucy was the same age as Gray, she still got along well with Ultear. Whenever Lucy and Natsu would hang out at Gray's house, with Juvia there of course, both Lucy and Ultear would gang up on the latter's younger brother, teasing him and Juvia.

"Yeah…" Igneel whispered. "We're still looking for her," Igneel told her.

"Good," Ultear said, staring at her hands, which were linked together. "I hope you find her." She looked up. "For everyone's sake."

Neither of them said anything for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts.

"Umm…" Igneel's eyes snapped over to the pink haired girl who, until right then, had been sitting silently. She looked back at Igneel, chewing her lower lip nervously. "Are we under arrest?" She asked him quietly.

"No," Igneel promised. "Neither of you are under arrest." Meredy looked like she was going to say something else, but Igneel continued before she could say anything. "Azuma and Rustyrose aren't under arrest either." He watched as Ultear let out a breath she had been holding, visibly relaxing upon the knowledge that her boyfriend wasn't in any kind of trouble. "None of you did anything wrong."

"Than why are we here?" Meredy asked him, eyes flooding with several different emotions. Most of them negative.

Igneel sighed, unsure of how exactly he was going to explain the situation to the two girls in front of him. He couldn't just outright say it, Meredy looked scared enough as is. Besides, what if they refused to help him? Then what? He would be back to trying to get information out of Azuma and Rustyrose. One of which didn't like him at all and the other was a master of holding his tongue. He could threaten them with an arrest, but he had nothing to charge the two girls with and they would never trust him again if he did something like that after promising them that he wouldn't arrest them. Either way he would be screwed over.

"A man was murdered just over two weeks ago," he told the two girls, praying that they would be willing to help him out. He sighed, deciding to be completely honest with them. "Jude Heartfilia was murdered just over two weeks ago," he said loudly, eyes flicking back and forth between the two young women.

Meredy gasped softly, eyes widening, while Ultear did nothing, not looking shocked in the least. Igneel fought back a frown.

"You don't look surprised, Ultear," he noted.

The dark haired girl scoffed. "Should I be?" She asked. "That asshole got what he deserved," she snarled. "I'm just surprised that no one decided to get rid of him earlier," she mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Igneel asked her, eyes furrowing in confusion.

Ultear met his eyes. "Everyone knew what he was doing to Lucy. Obviously no one liked it," she told him. "I wouldn't be shocked if one of the guys snapped and decided to deal with that asshole themselves," she shrugged, looking away from him. "You guys weren't exactly doing anything about it." Another shrug. "Not that it really matters now," she whispered. "That bastard can't hurt her anymore." She locked her gaze with his. "She'll be safe once you find her. And you will find her."

"Yeah," he whispered back. "I'll find her." He smiled slightly, hoping that he will in fact find her. "But right now I need your help finding the person who killed her father."

"Why?" Ultear asked. "So you can prosecute the person who quite possibly saved Lucy's life?" She hissed. "Her father was so close to killing her. Everyone knows that," she snarled. "You know that!"

He did know that. He knew that Jude probably would have killed Lucy, but he couldn't do anything about it right then. Now he could. Igneel could make everything right.

"It's the law, Ultear," he told her. "I hate Jude Heartfilia just as much as you do, but my job right now if to find the person that killed him." He looked down. "I have to find who killed him, because I'm not allowed to look for Lucy," his words started to waver at the end, but he held back his emotions, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Mr. Dragneel…" Ultear whispered. Sadness and guilt flooding threw her.

"Whoever killed him left Grimoire Heart's card on his body," he told them. "They didn't steal anything from him either, so it wasn't a robbery." He looked back up at them. "Someone wanted him dead. And I want to know who."

Ultear and Meredy exchanged a quick look, the latter sending a quick nod to the former. Ultear turned to him, her arms crossed over her chest. "Talk to Cobra," she told him, eyes shinning with determination and something else that he couldn't place.

Igneel's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Who's Cobra?" He asked her. He remembered hearing that name before, but he couldn't quite tell where. It sounded familiar though.

She sighed. "He's a member of the Oracion Seis," she explained. "Or, he was before they split up. He still lives in Magnolia though," she pursed her lips in thought. "You could probably find him in Fairy Tail. His girlfriend, Kinana, works their on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Igneel nodded, leaning back in his seat. "And why should I talk to Cobra?" He questioned.

"He hears everything…" Meredy whispered softly, voice barely being heard. Both Igneel and Ultear turned to the shy, pink haired teen. Meredy looked up, swallowed thickly, and took a deep breath. "Cobra hears everything," she said stronger. "If you want to know something- _anything_- you talk to Cobra."

"Thank you," Igneel whispered after a moment, standing up to leave. He needed to find this "Cobra" wherever he was. His hand had just brushed against the interrogation room's doorknob when Ultear shouted, lunging to her feet.

"Wait!" She cried out, waiting for him to turn around again. When he complied she continued to speak. "There's something you should know about Cobra…"

**~The Raven~**

"He's blind?" Max whispered softly, his eyes nearly bugging out of his skull as he stared at Igneel. The younger male just could not seem to comprehend the fact that the person Ultear and Meredy said could help- possibly the only person who could help- wasn't able to see. He had been pacing back and forth for nearly ten minutes, repeating little things like "he's blind?" or "we're doomed".

Igneel sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day, his fingers rubbing into his temple, trying to prevent the headache that was soon to come. "Yes, Max," Igneel grumbled, half to himself. "He is blind."

"How is he supposed to help us find our killer if he can't ID them?" Max asked, still pacing back and forth, his steps only faltering for a moment as he spun on his right foot, heading back the way he had just come from.

Gee Max, I don't know. Igneel rolled his eyes. "Cobra may be blind, but he certainly isn't stupid," Igneel told the, slightly hysterical, man. "When one of the five senses becomes… unusable the others become stronger," He explained. Igneel turned towards Max as the younger man walked over to him, seemingly done with his pacing. "Besides," Igneel shrugged. "I couldn't give a damn about his eyes. All I care about are his ears."

A slightly disturbed expression crossed Max's face. "His… ears?" He asked uncertainly, not sure what to think about what the other man had said.

Igneel sighed again. "Yes, his ears," he scowled at Max. "Weren't you listening to what Miss Milkovich and Miss Sensu said?" Judging by Max's blank look, Igneel would take that as a "no". "They said he hears everything," Igneel repeated the words. "If you want to know something you go to 'Cobra' to find the answer."

Max still looked confused. "But… why?"

"I would assume that his extraordinary hearing allows him to catch parts of conversations that he isn't supposed to." Igneel mulled over a better answer for a moment. "That or people tell him of crimes they've committed thinking that he can't ID them."

Max nodded, finally understanding everything. It wasn't that the younger male was incompetent or stupid; he just didn't have as much experience with people as Igneel did. "Okay," Max said after a moment. "So, who is Cobra?"

Igneel exhaled loudly. "Cobra… Well, 'Cobra' is only an alias," he started. "His real name is actually Erik Drake, but everyone just calls him 'Cobra'." He glanced at Max to make sure that the younger man was still listening. "He has a girlfriend named Kinana Cubellios, she works at Fairy Tail with L-," Igneel choked on her name, but swallowed down the sadness sticking to his tongue. "She works at Fairy Tail like Lucy normally does." He swallowed again. "He was once a member of the Oracion Seis, but, like I said earlier, they've disbanded," he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember what else he knew about the ex-con. "He has cleaned up though, especially after he started dating Kinana." He let a soft smile slip over his face. It was almost like Natsu and Lucy. A guy who was rough around the edges and a girl who managed to make him a better person without either of them realizing it. "As I also said before, Cobra is the go-to-guy when it comes to finding out information on what happens in the underworld."

Max looked slightly nervous. "Do you think we can trust him?" He asked.

Igneel's brows furrowed. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not as familiar with Cobra as I am with the other four that were here earlier." He ran his tongue over his teeth, a nervous habit that he had picked up several years earlier. "I don't see why not. He isn't in trouble for anything and from what I can remember he didn't come off as a liar."

Max nodded. "But…" Igneel watched as Max shuffled awkwardly in place, shifting from his right foot to his left and then back to the right, repeating the same process over and over and over again. "What if he can't help us find who killed Jude Heartfilia?" Max asked softly, chewing his bottom lip.

Igneel thought about the question for a minute, really thinking it over. Max had a point. What if Cobra couldn't help them? Then they would be back to square one. No answers and a whole lot of questions. He pondered the question for a bit longer. "We keep trying," he finally answered. "We keep trying until we find out who did kill him." He looked over at Max. "What kind of people would we be if we just gave up when it looked like all hope was lost?"

Max nodded, a small smile on his face. "You're right." Max stopped shuffling on his feet, finally relaxing enough to just sit down and wait for Alzack to get back with Cobra. Igneel would have gone to get him himself, but Mavis asked him to stay back.

"Of course I'm right," Igneel mumbled, only half joking. "You wouldn't have any idea what to do if I was wrong." Max nodded in agreement and then the two men fell into silence.

Igneel closed his eyes, leaning back into the chair he was sitting on. It had been a long month. It had been a really long month. Back when that first girl had been killed on Thirty-First Street he had never thought that it would lead to _this_. Or whatever _this_ was exactly… Igneel had never thought that one girl's death would lead to six more deaths, a missing person's case, and possibly a man's murder.

Igneel had no doubt in his mind that somehow everything was connected in some way or another, he just couldn't figure out _how_, and that was what frustrated him the most. From the very beginning "The Raven" had been playing all of them like fools. They had no idea who he was or where they could find him, they had absolutely no leads as to how to find him, fuck, they didn't even know if it really was a _he_.

He sighed heavily. Igneel wasn't just going to be asking Cobra about Jude Heartfilia.

Max, seeming to sense his thoughts, glanced over at him. "Are you going to ask Cobra about Miss Heartfilia?" He whispered.

Igneel half shrugged. "I don't know, Max," he whispered back. "We'll just have to see."

Before Max could say anything else Macao walked into the room. "Igneel," the dark haired man called out to him. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked. Igneel nodded and murmured an "I'll be back" to Max before following Macao back the way he came. The two men walked in silence for awhile, Igneel waiting for Macao to say something, unsure of what the other man wanted.

Macao, who was walking just in front of Igneel, stopped suddenly, causing the other man to slam into him accidently. "This is turning into a game of 'he said she said'," Macao whispered to him, not turning around to face him.

Igneel's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean, Macao?" He asked softly. "He said she said" was a common term that basically meant that there was gossip being passed from one person to another before it gets to the person that is being gossiped about.

The dark haired man sighed. "First it's someone in Grimoire Heart that killed Jude, then Rustyrose blames Ultear, Ultear says to talk to Cobra, and Cobra is going to hopefully send it all back to the person we've all been talking about."

Igneel could only blink; what Macao was trying to say finally dawning on him. "So you're trying to say that we're all acting like a group of teenage girls," Igneel clarified. It seemed logical to him.

Macao turned around, the look on his face clearly asking if Igneel was stupid. "No," Macao sputtered. "That's not what I'm saying." He ran a hand across his face, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "and you wonder where your son gets his stupidity from". Macao sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Igneel," he glanced back up. "In a game of 'he said she said' normally someone fucks up the story somewhere along the way." Igneel nodded, telling his friend to continue. "What if that's happening here? What if Cobra can't help us or someone is lying to us?"

Now Igneel just felt stupid for not thinking about that before. "You can't think like that," he told Macao. "If we were to only think of the negative during a case we would never save anyone's life." He took a deep breath. "Even if someone is lying it doesn't mean we won't find out the truth."

Macao hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything else. The two men watched in silence as Zancrow walked past them, leading Rustyrose and Azuma out of the precinct.

After Igneel had finished talking to the two men he had requested that they stay back until he was done speaking with Ultear and Meredy. Both had complied, albeit reluctantly in Rustyrose's case. The two girls had been picked up by Ur, Ultear's mother nearly a half hour ago and Igneel had asked Zancrow to bring them home, hoping to give the younger man a distraction from whatever Mavis had said to him about his fuck up with Gajeel's attorney.

As the three men walked by Igneel saw Zancrow's mouth move, as if he was saying something to Azuma and Rustyrose. He would have thought nothing of it if Rustyrose and Azuma hadn't have nodded and Zancrow wasn't smiling. Did they know each other?

Igneel kept his eyes on the backs of the retreating figures. Maybe they had gone to school together with Max and Alzack. It would make sense. They were all about the same age, all of them except for Meredy being twenty four years old.

It didn't matter though. Igneel had more important things to worry about than who Zancrow may or may not have been friends with, like talking to Cobra. Talking to Cobra was definitely a priority right now. Or it would be if Alzack would hurry up and bring the man to the station already. Seriously, how long did it take to find someone? A bit hypocritical of him to think considering his case at that moment, he knew, but he was too frustrated to really care at that moment.

Igneel realized he had started to tap his right foot obnoxiously when Macao started glaring at him, annoyance written all over his face. "Sorry," Igneel murmured. "I don't like waiting..."

Macao snorted. "You think I don't know that after all of these years?" He rolled his eyes. Not only had Igneel and Macao been partners for nearly ten years, they had also been good friends in high school. "I remember how you were when Grandine was in labor with Natsu," his lips twitched up in to a smile. "You practically had a panic attack in the waiting room."

Igneel fought back his own grin, eyes narrowing at Macao. "Like you were any better when Romeo was born," he shot back.

"At least I waited until I was twenty five to marry and have kids." Macao chuckled. "You were what? Eighteen-?"

"Nineteen," Igneel cut in, rolling his eyes.

"Nineteen when Natsu was born," Macao finished, obviously proud of himself. Maybe Igneel had been right earlier. They did act like teenage girls half the time. They argued like it enough. What was next? Sissy slap fights?

"I'm still married!" Igneel blurted out, knowing that Macao had no issues talking about his, now ex, wife. She had divorced him over six years ago, saying that Macao cared more about his job than his family. She then left Romeo with Macao, but that wasn't a bad thing. Macao loved his son more than anything else in the world.

Someone sighed from behind the two arguing men and they both whipped around, ready to unleash their fury on the unfortunate bystander. "Are you two ladies about done?" The newcomer asked them.

"Alzack?" Igneel gasped, completely surprised, but happy nonetheless, to see the dark haired man. "How long have you been here? Where's Cobra?" He asked quickly, grabbing Alzack's shoulders.

Alzack threw his hands up between the two of them, pushing Igneel away from him. "I've been here for about five minutes. I didn't want to interrupt… whatever that was," he explained. "Cobra is over by your desk in the main area. I didn't know if you wanted him in an interrogation room or not and- wait where are you going?!" He stared after Igneel as the other man darted away.

"I have to go talk to Cobra!" Igneel shouted back, waving over his shoulder. It was about time Alzack had gotten back with Cobra. Maybe now Igneel could actually get some information on everything that had been happening.

Igneel stopped running as he got back to the main room, calmly walking over to the brunette man sitting by his desk. He nodded at Max as he past him, but didn't stop to talk to the man. He didn't have time.

"Erik Drake," Igneel whispered as he walked up to the man near his desk. Upon closer inspection the man wasn't actually a brunette, rather his hair was a deep maroon color, almost like Erza's. He was a slim man, average in height, with tanned skin and his hair was spiked in an upward-style; aside from a tuft covering his forehead and two bangs framing his face. He had almost snake-like features, with slanted eyes similar to both his and Natsu's, and a rather flat nose. His ears were oddly pointed and there was a large scar over his right eye and when he opened the left Igneel caught sigh of his other eye, which was a milky onyx color, dull and clouded over, clearly showing that he was blind.

"Igneel Dragneel," Cobra said back, using the same tone Igneel had used. Igneel got a good glimpse of Cobra's prominent canine teeth; they were pointed, almost deadly looking, also like his and Natsu's. "I prefer being called Cobra," the man told him in a deep, almost raspy bass voice.

"Cobra than," Igneel replied, smiling a little. "Do you know why you're here?" He asked the blind man.

Cobra's milky eye swiveled around for a moment and then, unbeknown to the sightless male, locked onto Igneel's own eyes, sending a shiver down the detective's spine. He had no idea how Cobra had done it, and so flawlessly. Meeting his eyes that is. Some how Cobra had managed to look directly into Igneel's eyes, not truly seeing him though. It amazed him that Cobra could do that. He wasn't off target at all.

Cobra leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, never breaking his gaze away from Igneel. "I can hear everything," Cobra told him in his rough voice. "I can hear everything," he repeated.

"So I've been told," Igneel murmured, knowing fully well that Cobra could still hear him, no matter how quiet he tried to be. Igneel took a deep breath. "I need your help, Cobra."

Cobra smirked then, his lips pulling back over his canines. "So I've been told," he echoed.

Igneel blinked once, not sure if he should be annoyed with the man or if he should praise the man for not taking any shit from him just because he was a cop. He had practically dragged the man down to the precinct for no reason. Cobra wasn't under arrest nor had he done anything to warrant his arrest. Cobra didn't have to help him if he didn't want to. "Will you help me?" Igneel asked him, brushing off everything else.

Cobra closed his unseeing eyes for a moment, his lips falling into a frown. "I will try," Cobra murmured, nodding once.

Igneel let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding in. This was good. He hadn't thought that Cobra would be willing to cooperate so early on. "Thank you," he whispered.

Cobra shook his head. "Don't thank me yet," he told him sternly, reprimanding him. "Not when you aren't sure _I can_ help you."

"Okay." Igneel swallowed. "Okay." He took a deep breath, praying that Cobra could help him in some way. "Have you heard anything about a murder?" He asked. When Cobra didn't respond he elaborated. "It happened about two weeks ago, maybe twelve days. Over in an alley off of Rose Street."

Cobra stayed quiet for a long time, never saying anything, not making any sounds at all. Igneel couldn't even hear the other man breathing even though he was only about two feet away. "I was there," Cobra finally said.

"You…" Igneel felt like his mouth was full of cotton, making it so incredibly difficult to speak. "You were there?" He finally sputtered out.

The blind man sighed heavily. "I was passing by," he corrected. "I've lived in Magnolia for a long time, since before I was blind," he told Igneel. "That's how I knew where I was." He was quiet again for several seconds. "I heard two voices, one older than the other, coming from the alley. Something about a girl and how one of the men shouldn't have hurt her. I heard a shout and then strange noises that I couldn't place. I left after that, neither of the men noticed me."

So they were arguing about Lucy, and it had been a younger man that had killed Jude. Igneel ran a hand over his face. Things were not looking well for his son and his friends. "Cobra…" Igneel started to say, only to be cut off.

"I'm sorry," Cobra whispered. "If I had known that one of them had died I would have came her straight away."

"It's okay, you didn't know." Igneel reached out, giving Cobra's shoulder a quick squeeze. There was a thought that kept running through his head, but it was a long shot. "Cobra… If you heard their voices again… would you be able to point them out to me?"

Cobra's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he nodded. "Of course," he told Igneel. "Which one is dead?" He asked.

"The older one," Igneel replied. Cobra looked like he was going to say something else, but then the precinct door's slammed open and Zancrow walked in, shouting something about Max being an idiot. "Alzack," Igneel called out to the dark haired man sitting at his desk across the room, take Cobra home." Alzack nodded and walked over, taking Cobra by the arm he started to lead the man away.

Neither of them noticed Cobra's sudden stillness or the way his eye kept flicking around, searching for something.

"Dammit!" Zancrow shouted. "I can't work with him!"

Igneel was to far away to hear Cobra's quiet murmur and Alzack took no notice of it either, not thinking anything of the blind man's soft words.

"I can hear him."

**~The Raven~**

**AN: I apologize for not updating for over a month. I don't like to make excuses, but I suppose I'll tell you guys why I've been gone for so long.**

**To start with I still have tennis going on and we've had a ton of matches recently, plus I started school about two weeks ago and before that I had AP English work to finish up. I'm also learning French right now, which is fun.**

**I had a horrible bout of writer's block for this chapter. I would start it. Erase everything. And then try and start it again.**

**I fell in love with the song **_**July**_** by BOY. Go look it up. Do it now. Do it.**

**I was busy working on my newest one-shot, **_**Scars**_**.**

**I was busy playing wingman for my two friends. One likes a varsity soccer player and the other likes this one guy in our chemistry class who has been flirting with her for about two years or so now. **

**I got a Tumblr account and it has been taking up my entire life (no one follows me… if any of you guys do you should).**

**On a completely unrelated note I have this huge crush on one of my school's varsity soccer players (not the same one my friend likes) that I've known for years. We actually used to be great friends in middle school, but we stopped talking once high school started. I'm fairly certain that I've liked him for just about as long as I've known him. Unfortunately I'm also fairly certain that he doesn't know I exist. I'm kidding, we talk once in awhile and hang out in the same friend circle, but that's about it. He has a Russian girlfriend though, how the hell am I supposed to compete with a Russian girl?! **

**Oh well, you guys probably don't care about my non existent love life anyway.**

**Besides that… I guess I've been in kind of a bad place for awhile now. I've been feeling really down and depressed lately, thinking that I'm not good enough. I know that most people would say "that's not true" or "you're amazing!", but I don't know. I'm sure it's just one of those teenage phases that everyone goes through and it will blow over eventually, so there really isn't anything to worry about.**

**-Riven**


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